Midnight statue drama in Old Hyderabad, Raja Singh booked

HYDERABAD: Tension prevailed in the Old City in the early hours of Thursday when police tried to prevent BJP MLA Raja Singh and his followers from replacing freedom fighter Rani Avanti Bai’s statue with a new one.
A case was filed against the Goshamahal MLA. The Raja Singh, who suffered a head injury in the melee, said he was attacked by the police. The police, however, refuted his claims. Police said the MLA inflicted injuries on himself. They said he did not obtain permission for replacing the statue.
“They carried the idol from Rani Avanti Bai Lodh Bhavan at around 12.30am and reached Jumeraat Bazaar near the old statue at 2am. The new 25-ft statue was light weight and made of fibre. Fearing that it could cause damage to property, life and obstruct traffic in case it collapses, we suggested to the MLA not to install without a valid permission,” said ACP, west zone, AR Srinivas.
Raja Singh initially came with around 50 people and soon the crowd swelled to around 400 by 2.30am. According to police, a scuffle broke out between the followers and cops. “Avanti Bai’s statue was installed at Jumeraat Bazaar in 2009 and was replaced twice in past 10 years. When we reached the area, cops led by two ACPs attacked us. When I tried to explain to the police that we replace the statue every five years, they did not pay heed to us and lathicharged my followers,” said Raja Singh.
He alleged he was hit by four police officers — ACP of Goshamahal M Narender, ACP of Asif Nagar Narasimha Reddy and Shahinayathgunj SIs Gurumurthy and Ravi Kumar. However, a video of the incident doing the rounds on social media shows the MLA picking up a boulder and hitting himself on his head even as cops tried to stop him.
The DCP said the Goshamahal MLA was making a false allegation on lathicharge. “It was the MLA who manhandled some of our cops and verbally abused the officers,” he said. Raja Singh was shifted to OGH for treatment.
The MLA was booked under various sections of IPC.