Telugu actor-producer Niharika Konidela was detained by Hyderabad City police, along with singer Rahul Sipligunj and 144 others, following a raid at a pub in the city’s Radisson Blu Hotel in Banjara Hills.
During the course of the raid, carried out at 3 am on Sunday, the police task force reportedly found drugs and other banned substances at the hotel premises. The raid was conducted due to the hotel extending its operations beyond permissible hours.
Other prominent personalities who were also present and detained included the daughter of a former Director General of Andhra Pradesh Police and the son of an MP from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Those detained were taken to the Banjara Hills Police Station for questioning.
In light of the situation, CV Anand, the Commissioner of Hyderabad police has reportedly suspended P Shiva Chandra, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Banjara Hills police station, for negligence towards his duty. Subsequently, K Nageshwar Rao of the Hyderabad Commissioner’s Task Force was installed as the new SHO for Banjara Hills.
Silverscreen India tried to reach out to the Commissioner of Hyderabad police and the new SHO, but received no response.
Sipligunj was released at 8 am on Sunday morning, after four hours of detention and questioning. Konidela too was spotted leaving the station at noon, but she refused to talk to media representatives.
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However, her father, actor Naga Babu, issued a video statement addressing the incident. He said, “This is in response to last night’s incident at a pub in Radisson Blu as my daughter Niharika was there at the time. Since the pub was open beyond the permissible hours, action was taken by the police against the pub. With respect to Niharika, she is clear. According to the police, she has not done anything bad. I am releasing this video in order to prevent unwanted speculations on social media and mainstream press. Our conscience is clear and we request all to not spread speculations.”