Andhra Pradesh’s Crime Investigation Department on Friday arrested Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party MP Kanumuri Raghurama Krishnam Raju on charges of sedition from his residence in Hyderabad, reported The Times of India.
CID officials said that Raju had been engaged in delivering “hate speeches against certain communities and promoting disaffection against the government”.
The MP from Narsapuram was booked under sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 505 (incite, any class or community of persons to commit any offence) read with 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, reported The Indian Express.
Raju has been critical of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy for the past few months. He hit out at the chief minister on the alleged mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis, opposed the introduction of the English language in schools and alleged attacks on Hindu temples in the state.
The arrest came days after Raju asked a special Central Bureau of Investigation court to cancel the bail granted to Reddy in a 2012 disproportionate assets case.
The case against Reddy was about allegations of criminal conspiracy following which the Enforcement Directorate had attached the chief minister’s property worth nearly Rs 2,500 crore in 2016. The ED’s investigation had shown that several investments were made in his company after his father YS Rajashekara Reddy was made chief minister in 2004.
On Friday, the CID said that Raju was arrested for spreading disaffection against the government.
“A preliminary enquiry ordered by ADG [Additional Director General of Police] CID PV Sunil Kumar found that through his speeches on regular basis Raju was indulging in systematic, schematic effort to cause tensions among the communities and by attacking various government dignitaries in a way which will cause loss of faith in the government which they represent,” the CID said in a statement, according to The Times of India.
Raju’s son Bharat claimed that his father was taken away without a warrant. “My father underwent a bypass surgery around four months ago,” he said. “It was his birthday today. How can they just pick up an MP from a neighbouring state without even issuing a warrant?”
The MP had quit the YSR Congress years ago but joined it again just before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, reported NDTV. After quitting from the YSR Congress, he had switched sides to the Telugu Desam Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The CBI has also registered two cases against Raju on charges of defrauding banks and a loan default case.
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