Telangana Minister fires gun into air; Opposition demands his sacking
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Hyderabad: After the Prohibition and Excise Minister V. Srinivas Goud in Telangana fired a gun in the air, the Opposition demanded to sack him from the state cabinet. The minister had taken a service weapon from a policeman and fired it during a Saturday rally conducted as part of 75 years of Independence, IANS reported.
BJP MLA Raghunandan Rao demanded booking the minister for violating the law.
At the event in Mahbubnagar, the minister handled taken a self-loading loading rifle (SLR) from his security guard and opened fire in the air to launch the rally.
Raghunandan Rao ridiculed the minister's explanation that he fired a rubber bullet. The MLA also asked whether he had a gun license.
Rao said, "The minister has been provided security due to a threat to his life. If he says it was a rubber bullet, all the MLAs have to rethink about the security provided to them."
The BJP lawmaker demanded that the Director General of Police (DGP) should clarify if it were a rubber bullet or a real one.
Rao demanded that the Director General of Police (DGP) clarify whether it was a rubber bullet or a real one and sought a judicial probe into the matter.
He said that opening fire in a public place is illegal and asked why DGP Mahender Reddy held silence. Rao said that the minister fired the gun in the presence of the district superintendent of police, but neither a case has been booked nor the weapon has been seized so far.
The MLA asked the DGP to act impartially and demanded the gun be sent for forensic analysis.
He asked whether the DGP is silent because he is expecting the advisor's post after his retirement. He said that if the state government did not act in the matter, he would move the high court.
The video of the incident where the minister fired the gun has gone viral. The minister had explained that he only fired a rubber bullet and also possessed a licence to operate arms.