Hyderabad: It is election time in India and one is not surprised by the bizarre comments and retorts between the politicians. But what if a politician, a Congress leader is arrested for stealing a donkey. Yes, you read that right! A donkey!
Venkat Balmoor, the President of NSUI's Telangana unit was taken into custody after he led a protest with a donkey on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's birthday on Thursday. While Balmoor may have tried to include the poor animal in his protest to show ridicule to the state's chief minister, the donkey's owner Tangutoori Rajkumarhad had other plans.
He filed a complaint in Jammikunta Police Station in Karimnagar following which police lodged and FIR. Soon after they took Balmoor into custody while six others mentioned in the FIR are on the run. All of them have been booked for unlawful assembly, provocation with intent to cause riot, theft and showing cruelty to animal. The FIR was booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 143, 153, 504, 379 read with 149, Section 67 of IT Act and Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
Balmoor, who had contested recent by-election to Huzurabad Assembly seat, was arrested after the protest at Satavahana University in Karimnagar. He and others had placed up a picture of the Chief Minister on a donkey. They were protesting over the government not filling vacancies in the state government.
Congress leader incharge of party affairs in Telangana Manickam Tagore condemned Balmoor's arrest. "Unbelievable by KCR garu, how crazy when power goes into your head you can put false cases against a student leader. No words to condemn the misuse of power by Telangana first Hitler," tweeted Tagore. State Congress chief Revanth Reddy has also condemned the "illegal" arrest of the leader.
