CCTV first, verdict later at Saifabad station

The Telangana High Court has directed Saifabad police to preserve CCTV footage after two aides of BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao alleged that masked men tried to attack them inside the police station during questioning on September 14. The court’s direction is about preserving evidence, not declaring an attack proved. Even the footage has not yet been adjudicated. Administration, meet basic procedure.

The petitioners, K.T. Rama Rao’s public relations officer Mahesh Manikya and personal assistant Kumbala Mahender Reddy, alleged that men entered the interrogation room, abused them and attempted an attack. Their counsel also alleged that police personnel stood by and that their complaint was not accepted, according to a published account of the hearing. KTR called for an inquiry by a sitting judge.

Police dispute the account. DCP K. Shilpavalli said the men had come to seek permission for a Ganesh Chaturthi DJ event and that CCTV showed no assault. Government counsel called the petitioners’ allegations “blatant lies”. The court has sought footage from the station’s entry and exit points and, if covered, the interrogation room, for roughly 6 pm to 7 pm on September 14. It also directed safety precautions for the petitioners’ next appearance on September 17 and posted the matter for September 30.

The footage may settle the argument. Until then, the Congress government’s police machinery has managed to produce a court order asking it to preserve the evidence before anyone agrees on what happened.