MBT corporator held before press meet

HYDERABAD: Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) corporator Amjedullah Khan was detained on his way to address a media conference at Himayat Nagar on Tuesday. The corporator from Azampura division had convened the media conference on the recent attacks on people belonging to a particular community and the subsequent arrest of the accused, at a news agency in Hyderguda at 1:30 pm.As the news reached the Narayanguda police, they made enquiries at the conference hall and came to know that the MBT leader was supposed to speak on the communal issue.Task Force sleuths and local police were deployed on the main road leading to the venue.People and vehicles were allowed to enter the lane only after checking their identities.Khan reached the place around 1:20 pm and his vehicle was stopped near Apollo Hospitals.He and three others were taken into preventive custody and shifted to the Bollarum police station.He was let off in the evening.Narayanguda police inspector G Girish Rao said Khan and three others were taken into preventive custody as they feared that the corporator might make provocative remarks on the recent attacks and subsequent arrest of people belonging to an organisation.Speaking to Express, Khan termed his arrest undemocratic.“I wanted to produce a victim of the attack before the media and seek compensation from the government.How can the police prevent me from addressing media?” he questioned.He said some senior police officials were behind his arrest and alleged that they were acting at the behest of MIM.He alleged that his driver Abdul Raheem was manhandled.One of the injured victims and a cameraman of a vernacular newspaper, who was travelling in his vehicle, were among the arrested.Later, in a release handed over to the media, the MBT demanded that the government pay an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to those who suffered minor injuries and Rs 5 lakh each to those who sustained severe injuries in the attacks.“All the cases related to the attacks should be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as the organisation involved in the attacks is spread all over the country and the conspiracy was hatched outside the city,” he said.