'Didn't assault, was losing balance,' says Cong leader Renuka Chowdhury after 'grabbing' cop's collar

Image Source : PTI
The Congress leaders were protesting against Rahul Gandhi's ED questioning in the National Herald case.

Highlights

Congress leaders were protesting in Hyderabad over Rahul Gandhi's questioning by ED
Renuka Chowdhury was later taken into protective custody by cops, said a senior police officer
Renuka later defended herself, saying she was losing balance as someone was pushing her from behind

A video of senior Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury allegedly "grabbing" a police officer by his collar, while being taken away as several Congress leaders protested against the questioning of Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, has created a lot of online buzz. The protest was called by Congress' Telangana unit.

Soon after the incident, she was taken away by women police personnel. Later, Chowdhury said that she had no intention of humiliating the police official and she merely caught hold of his shoulder as she was about to fall when being pushed.

"We know how to respect the uniform. Police also have to learn to respect women. I have no intention of hitting policemen. That is not my intention at all. But I was being manhandled. I was losing my balance and was falling. You can see that in the visuals very clearly that they are suddenly trying to push me and that is the reason my hand slipped from when I was (trying to hold the shoulder) reaching for his shoulder he moved and I caught his collar. It was not my intention to humiliate him or anything like that," she said.

The leader added "I didn't assault. I've been booked, I'll face it. That's the law. I don't have anything against that young man. He never did anything to me." A senior police officer later confirmed that Chowdhury was taken into preventive custody.

Earlier, mild tension prevailed near Raj Bhavan, after scores of Congress leaders and workers held a protest against the grilling of Rahul Gandhi. As a large number of Congress leaders and party workers marched towards the Raj Bhavan in an attempt to lay siege to it as part of a "Chalo Raj Bhavan" call given by Congress' Telangana unit, police foiled their attempts and dispersed them even as the party said some of its leaders were injured due to lathi-charge by police.