Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker of Telangana assembly T Raja Singh was on Friday sentenced to one-year imprisonment by a special sessions court in Hyderabad, which has been hearing cases against elected representatives, in a case dating back to 2015.
The court also imposed a fine of ₹5,000 on Raja Singh, who represents Goshamahal assembly constituency in Hyderabad. However, the court granted bail to the MLA and suspended the sentence for one month to enable him to appeal in the state high court.
The case pertains to assault on a police official on duty at Bollarum police station in December 2015 when they took him into preventive custody. Singh was also charged with threatening and intimidating the police officialswhen he was taken into custody.
According to the BJP legislator, he was going to Osmania University in December 2015 after coming to know that some students, under the umbrella of Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the university, were organising a beef festival.
“I was going to the university along with my party activists to stop the beef festival. On our way, the police arrested us and took us to Bollarum police station. The police resorted to lathi-charge on my followers and I protested it,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“I was going to the university along with my party activists to stop the beef festival. On our way, the police arrested us and took us to Bollarum police station. The police resorted to lathi-charge on my followers and I protested it,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The MLA further said he had argued with the inspector that he was also a Hindu and it was his duty to save Gau Mata. “Later, he filed an FIR against me,” Singh said, adding that he was prepared to face even a death sentence for the protection of cows.