Sharmila gets bail and HC nod to resume padayatra, after being towed inside her car and arrested

Earlier in the day, the YSRTP leader scored another over the state government when the Telangana High Court cleared the way for her to resume her padayatra in the state after the police rescinded the permission given to her earlier.

High drama prevailed till late in the night on Tuesday when the police produced Sharmila in court after arresting her under several sections of the IPC including 353 (use of criminal force to deter public servant) and 333 (causing hurt to deter public servant).

Earlier, the Telangana High Court cleared the way for her to resume her padayatra in the state.

The high court issued orders on a lunch motion petition moved by her counsel seeking permission for her to resume her padayatra, which he said the Narasampet police in the Warangal district had disrupted.

The court, however, said that Sharmila could not make objectionable comments on Telangana Chief Minister and TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao or on religious issues in her padayatra.

The court also asked Sharmila to apply afresh for permission for taking out the march.

The dramatic lead-up

Sharmila, who was on her padayatra in the Warangal district on Monday, was arrested and brought to Hyderabad after a scuffle between her supporters and those of the TRS.

The trouble broke out after she made some incendiary comments on Narsampet MLA Peddireddi Sudarshan Reddy.

The TRS workers, who grew angry, set fire to her bus and damaged her car. The police then arrested her and brought her back to Hyderabad.

Sharmila, not one to take “no” for an answer, drove to Pragati Bhavan on Tuesday in her damaged car with the partially-burnt bus in tow to show Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao how the TRS workers had damaged her vehicles.

It was then that she was once again arrested on Raj Bhavan Road in Hyderabad.

High drama preceded her arrest as she remained adamant when the police stopped her convoy on Raj Bhavan Road and asked her to turn back.

She insisted that she would go to the chief minister’s residence to show him how the TRS workers had damaged her car. But the police did not allow her to move forward, standing in front of her vehicle.

As her supporters kept raising slogans in her support, Sharmila remained in the car when the police asked her to end the protest. She wound down her windows and sat in the car, refusing to come out.

Several of her supporters climbed to the top of her car and began raising slogans.

After overpowering her supporters who were on top of her car, the police brought a crane and towed the car — with Sharmila still sitting inside — to the SR Nagar Police Station.

Here's how @realyssharmila made a statement in #Hyderabad by just staying put.

This incident of the #YSRTP leader sitting tight inside her car as it is towed gave her and the party the kind of publicity political outfits thrive on.

How big a #TRS misstep is this? Time will tell pic.twitter.com/Vy6RfeO3g2

— Arkadev Ghoshal (@arkadev) November 29, 2022

She remained in it even after reaching the police station. The police then used force and brought her out of the car and took her inside the police station.

Eventually, the cops registered cases under Sections 353 (use of criminal force to deter a public servant) and 333 (causing hurt to deter a public servant) against the protesters.

కేసీఆర్ పిరికిపంద చర్యలకు బెదిరేది కాదు వైయస్ఆర్ బిడ్డ. ప్రజాస్వామ్యాన్ని పాతరేసి, అధికారాన్ని అడ్డం పెట్టుకుని, పోలీసులను పనోళ్లలా వాడుకొని, టీఆర్ఎస్ గూండాలను ఉసిగొల్పి దాడులకు పాల్పడితే.. ఖబడ్దార్.
ప్రగతిభవన్ లో దాక్కున్నా.. ఫామ్ హౌజ్ లో దాక్కున్నా..
నీ పతనం ఖాయం.
జై తెలంగాణ.. pic.twitter.com/HOzLTLiH4z

— YS Sharmila (@realyssharmila) November 29, 2022

Not afraid, says Sharmila

Meanwhile, a huge crowd collected at the police station demanding her release and permission for her to resume her padayatra.

Some of her supporters climbed on top of a building opposite the police station. The police arrested four of them and later lathi-charged the crowd.

Meanwhile, Sharmila’s mother Vijayamma, learning about her daughter’s detention, prepared to reach the police station but the police did not allow her out of her house, citing law-and-order problems.

Later Sharmila tweeted that she would be cowed down by KCR’s arm-twisting tactics, which only showed what a coward he was.

The chief minister had buried democracy and was using police as his personal valets and TRS workers to organise attacks, she said.

She also warned KCR that he would fall one day, whether he is in his farmhouse or in Pragati Bhavan. She described herself as YSR’s daughter and that she was intrepid.