Tensions prevailed in Road Transport Authority office at Khairatabad on Tuesday when TDP MLA J C Prabhakar Reddy and TRS MLA Srinivas Goud got into a scuffle over alleged irregularities in transport owned by the former.
Sensing trouble, the police took J C Prabhakar Reddy into protective custody and shifted him to a police station. The TDP MLA however alleged that the cops arrested him because he belonged to Andhra Pradesh.
Srinivas Goud alleged irregularities in the travels owned by J C Prabhakar Reddy, and the latter refuted the charge and challenged Srinivas Goud to come to the RTA office where he could disprove the allegations. Accepting the dare, Goud arrived at the venue along with the owners of the private bus.
Condemning the arrest, Reddy said that he came to the RTA office along with all evidence to disprove Goud's charge. He also questioned the police why the TRS legislator was not arrested as well.
Stating that he was only maintaining cordial relations with the private operators, Reddy contended that he was running 44 buses, all of which had the required permits.
On the other hand, the TRS MLA said that the TSRTC was under heavy losses due to illegal private travels coming from Andhra Pradesh. They were running travel buses in the name of stage carriers, violating rules.