Cong leaders on way to Asifabad taken into preventive custody

The Congress in Telangana Thursday hit out at the TRS government for allegedly preventing party legislators from visiting the village in where a woman forest official was recently attacked.

A senior police official told PTI over phone that, to maintain law and order three Congress MLAs-- T Jayaprakash Reddy, D Sridhar Babu, D Anasuya and party MLC T Jeevan Reddy and around 35 party workers were taken into preventive custody at Mancherial.

They were later released, the official said.

Congress Legislature Party leader M Bhatti Vikramarka had formed a fact-finding committee of the legislators to ascertain the facts on the incident of attack on the official.

Jeevan Reddy slammed the TRS government for allegedly preventing them from visiting the village.

"We severely condemn the attack on forest official. It is highly deplorable... When we are trying to know the facts, to see in the presence of media, if we are stopped and held at Mancherial, then where are we?," he told reporters.

The responsibility of protecting the interests of tribals is with the state government, he said.

"Congress would stand by tribals and Adivasis till they are given their (land) rights," Jeevan Reddy said.

Police on Sunday had arrested TRS MLA Koneru Konappa's brother Krishna and his followers in connection with the attack on the official Anitha at Sarasala village in the district.

Anitha, along with some officials, was about to undertake the government's afforestation programme when she was attacked.

The incident triggered outrage with the opposition Congress and BJP mounting strong attack on the state government.