Mantri in trouble for Osmania University arrest

By S A Ishaqui

Hyderabad, Dec 25: Minister for civil supplies and legislative affairs D. Sridhar Babu has landed in a row for his alleged involvement in the detention and torture of Gaddam Sriram, an LLB student of Osmania University and leader of Telangana Students’ JAC.

Justice Ramesh Ranganathan of the AP High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the minister seeking his version on the allegations made by V. Swaroopa in her petition seeking action against Babu and others for their involvement in the alleged illegal detention and torture of her husband Sriram.

V. Swaroopa, an M.Phil student at EFLU, Hyderabad, alleged that her husband Gaddam Sriram was detained by Karimnagar police on December 9 at the behest of minister D. Sridhar Babu. She said that the minister had a grudge against her husband for releasing a pamphlet containing alleged illegal activities of Babu and his followers.

According to the police, Sriram had alleged in the pamphlets that the minister had shares in a club in Hyderabad and had also encouraged rigging in the recently concluded gram panchayat elections.

Earlier, the judge had directed a medical examination of Sriram and a medical officers’ team of doctors from Care, Apollo and Nims had examined him and said that had a seven-day-old injury marks on his body and did not require hospitalisation. The police was told to file its counteraffidavit in a week.

The judge had then directed the Hyderabad police commissioner to shift him to the Chanchalguda Jail in the event of his discharge from NIMS.

V. Raghunath, the counsel for the petitioner, placed photographs of Sriram being chained by the police before being brought to NIMS for medical examination from Karimnagar.

Reacting to it, the judge asked the counsel for the Home Department the need for the police to behave in this manner. "What was the need to torture him? The police can register a case and investigate. Even the affected party may file a defamation case against him," he said.

He observed: "I would have stayed his arrest had the matter been at the initial stage. But since the case is with the lower court and the accused in judicial remand, I leave it to  the accused to seek justice from the court below."

The judge also issued notices to the DGP, Karimnagar SP and to the Godavarikhani police, directing them to file their counter affidavits within a week.