Dalit assault case: TDP leader forecasts Bhumana’s arrest soon

Former MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy and his son Bhumana Abhinay Reddy will be arrested soon in the case pertaining to the recent detention and assault of a tribal youth Pavan in Tirupati, Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) spokesperson and Swachh Andhra Corporation chairman Kommareddy Pattabhiram said.

Addressing a media conference along with Yadava Welfare Corporation chairman G. Narasimha Yadav and media coordinator Sridhar Varma here on Sunday (August 10), Mr. Pattabhiram said the YSR Congress leaders had forced Mr. Pavan to issue a false statement that the attacker was his cousin brother and that the assault had no political angle.

It may be recalled that a person, Anil Reddy, reportedly personal driver of Mr. Karunakar Reddy’s family, along with one Jagga Reddy, had detained Mr. Pavan in a room and beat him up with a lathi. He had also made a video of the incident and sent it to the victim’s father demanding repayment of the money he allegedly owed him.

When the issue assumed political overtones and showed the Bhumana’s family in poor light, the victim Pavan issued a video statement stating that the person beating him was his cousin brother, and the lathi lashes were only meant to make him mend his ways.

Referring to this incident, Mr. Pattabhiram said that while the attack revealed the anti-Dalit attitude of the YSR Congress party leaders, the forcible extraction of a false statement to safeguard their top leader disclosed their ‘inhuman’ nature.

“We have enough proof of the land grab and corrupt deals of Mr. Karunakar Reddy and his son. They have grabbed nine acres of land abutting Swarnamukhi river. The government will soon unearth the shady deals and arrest the father-son duo,” Mr. Pattabhiram stated.