Sharmila booked for assault on police officers 

The heated exchange continued again, and in similar circumstances to the scenes witnessed in the forenoon, Y S Vijayalakshmi too slapped an officer on duty.

YSR Telangana Party president Y.S. Sharmila was booked by the Banjara Hills police on Monday, for allegedly assaulting a female police constable and manhandling other officers who were near her house to restrain her from proceeding to the Special Investigation Team’s office which is probing the TSPSC question paper leak case.

Ms. Sharmila, outside her Lotus Pond residence here, was starting out when the police officers objected to her plan citing law and order issue. As seen in the visuals, visibly irate, she was questioning the officers on why she was being restrained. Although not clear in the visuals, she purportedly slapped a female constable, and pushed and argued with other officers who tried forcing her into the SUV.

After she got into her own SUV, she forced her driver to move ahead despite the officers obstructing her way. Reportedly, Giribabu, a constable suffered a ligament injury in the commotion.

Ms. Sharmila was taken to the nearby police station. As per information, she was booked under relevant charges of assault to deter public servant from discharge of duty (IPC. 353), voluntarily causing hurt to any person being a public servant in the discharge of his duty (332), insulting modesty of a woman (509) and mischief (427).

Speaking to mediapersons, DCP (West) Joel Davis said the police were at her residence to put her under house arrest and prevent her from going to the SIT office. But based on the scenes following it, as per video capture, she was booked for assaulting police officers, he said.

Ms. Sharmila’s husband Anil Kumar later visited her at the police station and enquired about the incident. But when Y.S. Vijayalakshmi, mother of Ms. Sharmila, started out to see her at the station, the police obstructed her . The heated exchange continued again, and in similar circumstances to the scenes witnessed in the forenoon, Ms. Vijayalakshmi too slapped an officer on duty. The scene was caught on video. She was later removed in a vehicle and sent back to her residence.

Speaking to the media, Ms. Vijayalakshmi condemned Sharmila’s arrest and said the Bharat Rashtra Samithi government was targeting her daughter as she had been questioning its failures.