Hyderabad, Jul 15 (PTI) Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao on Tuesday issued a legal notice to state Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka for his alleged comments holding the former responsible for the 2016 suicide of Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar in University of Hyderabad.
In the legal notice, Ramchander Rao demanded an unconditional apology from Vikramarka within three days from the date of receipt of the notice for making false accusations.
The notice said appropriate criminal action would be initiated and Rs 25 lakh in damages would be claimed if Vikramarka failed to comply.
"Your (Vikramarka) illegal and unlawful actions of making false statements against my client are ex-facie defamatory in nature and shall attract penal consequences since the same were made with a malafide intention to de-repute the character of our client by calling him responsible for suicide of Late Sri Rohith Vemula," the notice said.
The notice further said police officials who examined nearly 59 witnesses and gathered crucial evidence in relation to the caste of the deceased Rohith Vemula and the role played by Ramchander Rao, ultimately held that Rao has not abetted the suicide of Rohith Vemula.
Ramchander Rao, an ABVP veteran and senior advocate, was on July 1 elected as the new president of the BJP in Telangana, succeeding Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy.
The Congress on July 11 slammed the elevation of Ramchander Rao, who was among the accused in the Rohith Vemula suicide case, as the president of the BJP's Telangana unit chief, and said the party has once again proved that whoever goes against Dalits and Adivasis will be rewarded by it.
Vikramarka had on July 11 said Vemula's suicide at the University of Hyderabad had shaken the nation and prompted deep reflection on the state of affairs under the BJP rule.
He claimed that BJP leader N Ramchander Rao, who was an MLC at the time, arrived at the university with his “goons,” staged a dharna, met with the vice-chancellor, and pressured the administration into taking action against students of the Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA) by filing a false case.
The Telangana Police had last year filed a closure report in the case before a local court and given a clean chit to the accused, including Rao.