Tension erupted in Telangana's Kamareddy after Congress and BJP workers clashed following a verbal duel between state government adviser Mohammed Ali Shabbir and BJP MLA K Venkat Ramana Reddy over a land matter.
The chaos took place near the camp office of the BJP MLA, where former sarpanch and Congress leader Giri Reddy Mahender Reddy and his supporters gathered and raised slogans such as “MLA down, down”.
Ali Shabbir had alleged that the BJP legislator had encroached upon the land in question. Rejecting the charge, Ramana Reddy challenged the Congress leader and government adviser to an open debate.
During the chaos, Mahender Reddy’s car was damaged and overturned, while visuals from the spot showed police personnel attempting to control the situation and disperse the crowd.
Reacting to the incident, BJP Telangana president N Ramchander Rao said the “ghastly attack by Congress workers at the Kamareddy BJP MLA K Venkat Ramana Reddy garu's camp office is deeply condemnable and shocking”.
“Such acts of political violence have no place in a democracy,” Rao said, adding that he would visit the site personally.
However, Rao later said he was placed under preventive house arrest in Hyderabad ahead of his scheduled visit to Kamareddy and neighbouring Banswada, where tensions have remained high following recent incidents. The BJP alleged that several party workers were also detained in Banswada after a bandh call given by some Hindu organisations.
Police said detentions had been made in connection with the Kamareddy clash and arrests were in progress. Kamareddy Superintendent of Police M Rajesh Chandra said security deployment had been strengthened to maintain law and order.
The preventive measures come amid heightened sensitivity in the district following a recent communal disturbance in Banswada town, where stone-pelting incidents left a police constable injured and multiple persons were arrested.
Meanwhile, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said he had spoken to district police officials seeking a proper investigation into the violence and accountability for those involved, while urging authorities to ensure peace in the region.
