Hyderabad, June 21
Telangana police on Saturday arrested Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy over allegations of extortion.
Warangal Subedari police arrested the MLA from Huzurabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad and shifted him to Warangal for questioning.
The MLA will be produced before a court later in the day.
A case was registered against Kaushik Reddy at Subedari Police Station following a complaint by a granite quarry trader that the BRS leader threatened him, demanding payment of Rs 50 lakh.
Manoj Reddy, who operated a quarry in Vanagapalli in Kamlapur mandal, lodged a complaint through his wife Ramadevi that, citing public outcry over the granite quarry, the MLA extorted Rs 25 lakh and was demanding another Rs 50 lakh.
Police registered a case against the MLA for threatening and extortion under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Kaushik Reddy had approached the Telangana High Court to quash the case, but his plea was dismissed on Monday. The prosecution has placed evidence before the court about the threatening calls from the MLA to the businessman.
The legislator’s counsel had argued that he was calling the businessman to inform him about the grievances of the people.
Meanwhile, a large number of BRS workers staged a protest at Subedari Police Station against the arrest of the MLA. BRS leader Vinay Bhaskar and others tried to meet Kaushik Reddy, but they were stopped by the police.