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A Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former Telangana MLA was arrested from Film Nagar in Jubilee Hills on Wednesday for his involvement in an attack on Vikarabad district officials earlier in the week, police said.
Vikarabad police picked up Patnam Narender Reddy, a former MLA from Kodangal, from his residence after investigation showed that he had spoken to B. Suresh Raj, the absconding main accused in the attack in which two officials were injured, police said.
The police have registered three cases over the incident. At least 16 suspects were presented before a magistrate on Tuesday night and later sent to judicial custody.
Four police teams are on the lookout for Suresh Raj, a leader of the youth wing of BRS in Dudyala Mandal, officials said.
The police have taken serious note of the incident in the Kodangal constituency, which is represented by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said an official.
Vikarabad District Collector Prateek Jain, Additional Collector G. Lingya Naik, and Kodangal Area Development Authority (KADA) Chairman Venkat Reddy were attacked by a mob in Lagacharla village when they were conducting a public hearing involving farmers whose lands may be used for developing a proposed 'Pharma village', a cluster of pharma companies.
According to police, Suresh had reportedly approached the officials when they were conducting a public hearing near the Dudyala mandal headquarters and requested them to visit Lagacharla and speak to farmers.
When the officials reached the village, a group of villagers attacked them with stones and sticks, police said, adding that the Additional Collector and KADA Chairman were injured in the incident.
Meanwhile, the BRS has condemned the arrest of Narender Reddy. Party working president K T. Rama Rao said the ruling Congress was blaming the BRS for the people's revolt in the Chief Minister's constituency.
KTR, as the party working president is popularly known, said the government has stooped to such a level that it was arresting people's representatives for talking to party activists.
The BRS leader alleged that the government resorted to undemocratic measures to suppress the people's revolt.
He said by arresting Narender Reddy, the government was trying to threaten and silence people.
KTR said the BRS would continue its battle despite the undemocratic measures of Revanth Reddy's government.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News Agency staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)