Tension prevailed in the Karimnagar district of Telangana on Saturday (25th May) after an altercation transpired during a religious procession carried out by Hindu devotees. As per reports, devotees of Lord Hanuman were carrying out the religious procession when an intoxicated man appeared out of nowhere and started threatening them. The instance occurred near the Hanuman Temple in Prashant Nagar. When the Hindus protested against the matter, they were apprehended by the police for supposed ‘obstruction.’
As per the Three Town police, the incident happened at the Mancherial crossroads when a dispute erupted after a man from another community objected to the rally. He was arrested by the Mancherial police, who then brought him to the police station. However, as the police were taking him to the station in a patrol car, a devotee grabbed hold of the vehicle but the driver continued to speed forward as he suspected an attack. Afterwards, came to a stop a short distance ahead and in order to stop anyone from pursuing the police vehicle, a sub-inspector from the Karimnagar police department stepped down as hundreds of people swarmed him and then reached the police station to demonstrate against police action.
Warning : Sensitive Content
— Sowmith Yakkati (@sowmith7) May 25, 2024
A person who is observing #HanumanDeeksha was dragged along with police patrol. Police lathi charged on several locals. During Hanuman rally in Karimnagar, #Telangana a person allegedly threatened people with a sword, people on #Hanuman Mala (21 or… pic.twitter.com/K6OoMO7Osf
The occurrence prompted a swift reaction from the Bharatiya Janata Party as Karimnagar Lok Sabha MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar “strongly condemned the high-handed behaviour of Telangana police” and demanded unconditional as well as immediate release of the Hanuman Deeksha Swamis. He also condemned the state authorities and charged, “Your job is to maintain law and order, not create issues. We will cooperate with you.” He also tagged the Director General of Telangana police and accused, “Instead of protecting Law and order, Karimnagar police are doing lathi-charge on people. Please find out facts and take action against erring officials.”
Strongly condemn the high-handed behaviour of Telangana police against Hanuman Deeksha Swamis at Karimnagar.
— Bandi Sanjay Kumar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@bandisanjay_bjp) May 25, 2024
We immediately demand unconditional release of the Hanuman Deeksha Swamis who have been arrested.
Your job is to maintain law and order, not create issues. We will… pic.twitter.com/al6hozNLMD
The cops reportedly reached the spot to prevent any escalation but the devotees wanted them to hand over the person to them after which the latter were subjected to lathi-charge and arrested when they allegedly marched to the streets and tried to block the way. Meanwhile, the intruder in the Shobhayatra was identified as Jayadev, a supporter of the BJP leader Basa Satyanarayana and a party worker. However, party leader Praveen Rao refuted the charges and asserted that the procession had nothing to do with the BJP. He mentioned that police should find out the real identity of the accused because he was not a BJP worker. He further informed that party members went to the police station and launched an agitation in an effort to secure the release of the devotees and implored the cops to examine the CCTV footage to uncover the truth.
