Even as the police are yet to nab the perpetrator of the rape and murder of a 6-year-old girl, Telangana minister K. Taraka Rama Rao's tweets on the issue have landed him in controversy inviting criticism from the BJP.
On September 12, the minister had tweeted that the culprit had been arrested only to retract on Tuesday.
"Would like to correct my tweet below. I was misinformed that he was arrested. Regret the erroneous statement
"The perpetrator is absconding & @hydcitypolice has launched a massive manhunt for him
"Let's all make our best efforts to ensure he's nabbed & brought to justice quickly," said KTR's tweet on Tuesday.
Following the clarification by the minister on Wednesday, the state unit of the BJP came down heavily on Rao popularly known as KTR, and is the son of Telangana chief minister.
The state's home minister Mehmood Ali has also come under attack from the BJP. Telangana BJP chief spokesperson K. Krishna Saagar Rao said the tweets by minister K.T. Rama Rao were a pointer to the confusion prevailing in the TRS government. "The right hand doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing," the BJP functionary said.
Krishna Saagar Rao was particularly scathing of the Telangana state Home Minister Mahmood Ali.
"Home Minister Mahmood Ali is missing in action, as always. There is no official media statement from him explaining the case to public. Neither did DGP Mahender Reddy explain to public the details of this heinous crime and progress of its investigation, so far."
The BJP has also demanded for Mahmood Ali's resignation.
The 6-year-old child was sexually assaulted and murdered on September 9 allegedly by Raju who happens to be her neighbour in Saidabad.
The body of the girl, who was missing since 5 p.m. Thursday, was found in the house of her neighbor after midnight.
The horrific incident had triggered angry protests from the residents on Friday. They staged sit-in for seven hours on Champapet-Sagar Road, demanding immediate and harshest punishment to the guilty. Some of the protesters also demanded that the guilty be killed in an encounter.
Initially, the police sources had claimed that the accused was arrested from his native village in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district.
However, a senior official clarified that the accused is still at large. The police commissioner said despite serious efforts, the accused remained at large.
Telangana Police have announced a reward of Rs ten lakh for information leading to the arrest of the accused.
