ED row: Congress protest turns violent in Hyderabad; Renuka Chowdhury grabs cop's collar

Chowdhury said that she had no intention of humiliating the police official and she merely caught hold of his shoulder as she was about to fall when being pushed

Telangana Congress party activists went berserk in Hyderabad on Thursday during their attempt to lay siege to the Raj Bhavan protesting the Enforcement Directorate's grilling of their leader Rahul Gandhi.

A two-wheeler was set on fire at the busy Khairatabad circle near the Raj Bhavan causing a huge traffic jam in which ambulances were also stuck. Some youth activists damaged the state-run RTC buses. Police had to resort to lathi-charge to quell the mob.

Former union minister Renuka Chowdhury created a ruckus by holding the shirt collar of a male police officer on duty. She was later packed off in a police van with the help of lady police.

Read | ED summons Rahul Gandhi on June 17 again

Several TPCC leaders including their chief Revanth Reddy staged a sit-in on the main road, causing inconvenience to thousands of commuters on their way to offices and other works.

The Congress leaders were taken into custody and were detained at various police stations in the city.

“The ED probe in reopened cases is to trouble our leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and to divert attention from public issues. Our protest today was in a Gandhian manner but the police provoked our activists with a lathi charge. Renuka Chowdhury was agitated that she was handled by a male cop,” Revanth said from Bolarum Police Station.

While demanding that the Congress leaders be released immediately and the cases on them withdrawn, Revanth has called for more protests on Friday at the central government offices. The TPCC chief also wants PM Narendra Modi's effigies burnt.

The TRS leaders reacted by stating that Congress should have taken their protests to New Delhi instead of targeting the Telangana public property here.

T-BJP leaders criticized the Congress party for indulging in violence. “The National Herald case is not anything new and the ED is following the court orders. How is the common public in Telangana connected to the ED case? Why to damage the public transport buses?” questioned BJP leader Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy.