INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hyderabad: Amid high drama, the Siddipet police on Monday seized Rs 18.67 lakh from the house of a relative of M
Raghunandan Rao, BJP candidate for the November 3 Dubbak byelection
news of the searches reached him, Raghunandan Rao, who was campaigning in Dubbak, rushed back to Siddipet with his followers
While he began arguing with Siddipet police commissioner Joel Davis, his followersconfronted the police which resulted to jostling between
the BJP workers andthe police
The BJP workers prevented the police from taking the seized cash away from the house of Arjun Rao.At one place, they overpowered the police
In the scuffle, the BJP candidate fainted
Speaking after the incident, Davis, the Siddipet police commissioner, said that police had raided the house of Arjun Rao based on a credible
BJPworkers provoked by Raghunandan Rao entered the premises by jumping thecompound wall and snatched Rs 5.87 lakh
He said that the police search wasvideographed and Arjun Rao had confessed that his brother-in-law JitenderRao had sent the money for
followers for obstructing the police and attacking them.He said that the executive magistrate had lodged a complaint with the policeagainst
the BJP candidate and his followers for snatching Rs 5.87 lakh.The tension spread to Karimnagar too when police took BJP state
presidentBandi Sanjay Kumar into custody when he was when he heading towardsSiddipet
Other BJP leaders including A.P
BJP cadres and leaders to prevent them fromcampaigning actively.Raghunandan Rao alleged that the police raided his house without
They did not find any money and enacted a drama of seizing cash fromthe house of a close relative.The police commissioner said that the
police also searched the house ofSiddipet municipal chairman Raj Narsu following the complaint from the BJPleaders alleging that the latter
was only trying to garner sympathy
He pointed outthat the party leaders could have videographed the incident instead ofsnatching the seized cash from the police
