A case has been filed against Congress chief and former MP Renuka Chowdhury for grabbing the police collar during the protest in Hyderabad. He has been charged under Section 353 of the Indian Penal Code which punishes assault or criminal pressure to prevent a public servant from discharging his duties.
A video of the incident went viral on social media today showing Ms Chaudhary grabbing a policeman’s collar in Telangana on Thursday amid party protests over Rahul Gandhi’s summoning of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The 43-second video also shows Ms Chaudhary arguing with the policeman. She was then dragged to a police van by female police officers.
The protest was organized as part of the Congress Party’s “Chalo Raj Bhavan” protest against Rahul Gandhi’s interrogation by the ED. He is being questioned by the corporation in a money laundering case related to the National Herald-AJL deal.
“Protest is our right. We will fight for justice. They (ED) are not taking the example of any BJP leader. They are only harassing Congress people,” Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar told news agency ANI.
Bengaluru police said the Congress protest was against the Karnataka High Court order. “The High Court had in the past directed that no protest be held anywhere except Freedom Park. We have delivered it to them. They gave written protest but we rejected it. We informed them in the morning as well. If they go ahead, we will take them into preventive custody,” Bengaluru East Police Commissioner Bhimashankar S Guled told ANI.