Hyderabad, Mar 22 : A journalist working with a newspaper here was allegedly manhandled by the police and was detained for over nine hours in the police station last night.
In a letter to Chief Minister YSR Reddy, the newspaper said the sub-editor of the paper was having a cup of tea at Punjagutta at about 11.45 pm last night when he was allegedly roughed up and dragged to the police station by the inspector and his constables.
He was subjected to nine hours of "agony" and the police framed false charges aginst him, the letter alleged.
The police also snatched his mobile phone to prevent him from communicating with his collegues, it charged.
However, when contacted, the police denied high-handedness in the incident and said the journalist was in an inebriated state and assulted the policemen.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) today strongly condemned the alleged detention of the scribe.
"We demand the Home Minister to take action against the police involved in this incident and ensure for release of the sub-editor immediately", a release of APUWJ said.
