Telangana: Jail official suspended for taking farmer to hospital in handcuffs

Hyderabad, Dec 13 Telangana government suspended Sangareddy Central Jail Superintendent Sanjeeva Reddy for taking a farmer in handcuffs to a hospital for treatment.

The suspension was announced after an inquiry into the incident on the orders of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

Inspector General of Police Satyanarayana conducted an inquiry in the jail along with the Sangareddy district Superintendent of Police.

The IG and other officials questioned the jail staff for four hours. They found that the jail authorities were responsible for handcuffing Heerya Naik while being taken to a hospital in Sangareddy after he complained of chest pain.

The officials also found that the jail authorities did not inform the Vikarabad district police but gave information to the Cyberabad police.

The IG clarified that Naik was not an accused in the case relating to the attack on officials during a public hearing on land acquisition for a pharma cluster in Lagacharla village of Vikarabad district. He said Naik was accused in some other case registered in Balanagar

Earlier, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy took serious note of the incident and ordered an inquiry.

According to the Chief Minister’s Office, the Chief Minister enquired about the incident from officials. He expressed his anger and asked what was the need for handcuffing the farmer.

He directed senior officials to conduct an inquiry and submit a comprehensive report. He warned the officials that the people's government would not tolerate such incidents.

The farmer was taken to hospital after he complained of chest pain. He was later shifted to a hospital in Hyderabad.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the working president, has also condemned the farmer's handcuffing.

“Absolutely heartless, insensitive and shameful of Telangana Government. You handcuff a farmer who’s suffered a stroke. Lagacharla farmers have been in jail for over a month now. Their only mistake was they didn’t yield to the Revanth Government’s diktats to part with their agricultural land,” Rama Rao said in a post on ‘X’.

Source: IANS