Gambler booked for taking out rally in Telangana without police permission

Hyderabad: Police in Telangana have booked casino organiser Chikoti Praveen for taking out a rally without permission in Gajwel town on Tuesday amid a tense situation following a clash between two groups.

The high-profile gambler visited the town without police permission and took out a rally on Tuesday.

He, along with others, went to the statue of Shivaji and garlanded it and poured milk on it.

The town witnessed a clash between two groups after a person allegedly urinated near the statue on Monday night.

There was more tension on Tuesday when during the shutdown called by some groups, protestors pelted stones on a place of worship.

BJP MLA M. Raghunandan Rao was Wednesday detained by police in Hyderabad when he was going to Gajwel, which is also the Assembly constituency of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Siddipet Police Commissioner N. Swetha said on Wednesday that eight cases have been booked and 11 people arrested in connection with the incidents that took place during the last two days.

The arrested have been sent to judicial custody for two days by a local court.

Police have constituted special teams to nab others involved in the cases. She appealed to people not to believe the rumours being spread through social media and warned that strong action will be taken against those trying to create disharmony by spreading rumours on social media.

Police were keeping a close watch on social media postings, she added.

The Police Commissioner told media persons that the situation in the town is peaceful. She appealed to people to cooperate with the police in preventing any untoward incident.

A person, who allegedly urinated near Shivaji’s statue on Monday night, was thrashed by some people and paraded him semi-naked before handing him over to police. Another group supporting the youth attacked those who had thrashed the youth. One person was injured in the clash.

During a shutdown called in the town on Tuesday, some protestors pelted stones on a place of worship, again triggering tension.