Akbaruddin Owaisi booked for threatening Police official, BJP says "KCR unable to manage law and order"

Nov 22, 2023

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 22 : After police registered a case against AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi for allegedly threatening a police officer in Hyderabad, BJP leader Syed Zafar Islam on Wednesday said that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is unable to manage the law and order situation in Telangana.
Speaking to ANI, Syed Zafar Islam said, "Till yesterday he (Akbaruddin Owaisi) was challenging, and today he got to know the ground reality. When a FIR was registered against him, he started acting like a scary cat. His attitude completely changed."
"When the police were doing their job, he started challenging them. KCR is not able to manage the administration and law and order. In the upcoming time when our government will come, law and order will be strong," he added.
Earlier today, Rohit Raju, DCP South East zone informed that on the complaint of the Santosh Nagar SHO, a case has been registered against (AIMIM leader) Akbaruddin Owaisi.
"The case has been booked under section 353 (obstructing official duties) IPC and other relevant sections," the police official said.
Reacting to the FIR registered against him, Akbaruddin Owaisi said, "DCP and police are lying. Firstly, I have video footage of him (a police officer) coming onto the stage. If I give a speech after 10 pm, then police can book me under the law. But obstructing a public meeting and saying that time is up is wrong. Police should not do this."
"An officer of EC has said that it was a mistake of the police. I have filed a complaint against the police. I demand from EC to probe the matter," he added.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma urged the Election Commission of India to cancel the candidature of Akbaruddin Owaisi.
"If this had happened in Assam, the matter would have been settled within 5 minutes. Due to appeasement politics in Telangana, neither BRS nor Congress is saying anything. If you can openly threaten the police, then people will feel threatened. I request the Election Commission to cancel his candidature," he said.
Akbaruddin Owaisi on Tuesday threatened a police inspector who asked him to follow the Model Code of Conduct in place for the assembly polls in the state. Akbaruddin threatened the policeman after he was asked to stop his speech.
The AIMIM leader, who was addressing a campaign in Hyderabad's Lalitabagh, asked the policeman to "leave" the venue, implying that if he made a "signal" to his supporters, the inspector would be forced to "run" from the place."
"Do you think that after facing knives and bullets, I got weak, still there's lots of courage in me. Five minutes are left and I'll address five minutes, no one can stop me. If I give a signal then you'll have to run, shall we make him run? This is what I'm saying they come like this to weaken us," Akbaruddin said.
In this regard, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi also defended the remarks of his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi and said that the official should not have intervened as "five minutes" were left for the campaign time to be over for the day.
Asaduddin Owaisi said the campaign by candidates is allowed till 10 pm.
"If the time was 10:01 pm, you have all the right to stop us. When five minutes were left why did he come to the podium? The law permits and you tell us to stop it five minutes before? One could react if it's 10:01 pm. What's this behaviour? One could say a lot in five minutes. For a speaker, opening and concluding remarks are important," he said.
Akbaruddin is in the fray from the Chandrayangutta constituency. The seat has been a stronghold of the AIMIM, with the party winning it in 2014 and 2018. Telangana will go to polls in a single phase on November 30.
The counting of votes for Telangana, along with those of four other poll-bound states, will take place on December 3.