No trace of Pawan Khera; Banjara Hills home barricaded as Assam Police face Telangana cops’ 'silence'

HYDERABAD: Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera remained untraceable on Wednesday as his Banjara Hills home in Hyderabad was barricaded and placed under heavy police watch, with an Assam Police team camping in the city to trace him in connection with a case over his remarks against Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma.Barricades were put up and a police team deployed outside Khera’s house on Road No. 10 in Banjara Hills, but sources said to news agency PTI, neither he nor his family members have been present at the residence since Wednesday morning. Telangana Police have not disclosed his whereabouts, even as the visiting Assam Police team sought their assistance in tracing the Congress leader. The development comes a day after Assam Police searched Khera’s Delhi residence as part of the probe.The case was registered by the Guwahati Crime Branch following Khera’s alleged defamatory remarks at a recent press conference in the national capital, where he claimed that Riniki Bhuyan Sarma holds multiple foreign passports and has overseas assets. The allegations have been strongly denied by both Himanta Biswa Sarma and his wife, who termed them “false, fabricated and malicious.” Based on her complaint, Khera has been booked under several provisions, including charges of circulating false information, forgery, cheating, criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy.Officials said the Assam Police team reached Hyderabad and coordinated with local authorities, putting up barricades and maintaining a presence outside Khera’s residence. However, with no trace of him at the location and no official word from Telangana Police, efforts to locate the Congress leader have so far remained inconclusive.Amid the mounting legal and political pressure, Pawan Khera has moved the Telangana high court seeking anticipatory bail in the case. In his petition filed on April 7, Khera stated that he is a resident of Banjara Hills and contended that he has not been furnished a copy of the FIR. He further argued that the allegations against him do not constitute a valid case and sought protection from arrest.The petition is scheduled to come up for hearing before Justice K Sujana today.