The Andhra Pradesh State government suspended three IPS officers. The move was in connection with the arrest and alleged torture of a Mumbai actress, earlier this year, when the YSRCP was in power.
Former director general of police, Intelligence, P Sitharama Anjaneyulu, former commissioner of Police Vijayawada Kanthi Rana Tata and former deputy commissioner of police, Vijayawada, Vishal Gunni are the officers placed under suspension.
The state government has already suspended the then Vijayawada Assistant Commissioner of police, Hanumantha Rao and the then Ibrahimpatnam Inspector of Police, M Satyanarayana Rao.
The state government issued three separate GOs, placing the three IPS officers under suspension under Rule 3(1) of all India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969.
Suspension based on report
The suspension orders were based on a report submitted to the government by the Director General of Police on the lapses in the investigation of the case (No 90/2024) in Ibrahimpatnam Police station against the Mumbai actress.
The charges against Sitaram Anjaneyulu included instructing the then Vijayawada Police Commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata and deputy commissioner of police Vishal Gunni to arrest the actress even before a case has been registered. Also, the GO said that Sitarama Anjaneyulu pushed the investigation forward based on incomplete information, abusing his authority and official position. The GO said it amounted to grave misconduct, misuse of official position and dereliction of duty.
The charges against Kanti Rana Tata, who was the then commissioner of Vijayawada, were that he had failed to properly supervise the investigation of the case. He did not have the complaint thoroughly examined and yet he ordered the arrest of the actress. Kanti Rana Tata acted on the oral instructions of Sitarama Anjaneyulu and issued instructions for the purchase of air tickets to his officers to fly to Mumbai and arrest the actress. The GO said that the arrest thus was illegal, and it amounted to grave misconduct and dereliction of duty.
The charges against Vishal Gunni, the then Deputy Commissioner of Police, Vijayawada, were that he rushed to Mumbai to arrest the actress, just one hour after the registering the case at Ibrahimpatnam police station on 2 February, at 6.30 a.m. though he had no written instructions. This showed that the action was initiated well before the crime was registered. He did not give any opportunity to the person arrested to give explanation nor did he conduct any investigation before “highhandedly” arresting the actress.
The action was taken against the officials after the actress lodged a complaint in which she has sought registering cases against the three IPS officers besides YSRCP leader Kukkala Vidyasagara Rao.
What is Kadambari's complaint?
The actress in her complaint alleged that she and her family members were arrested based on documents in which her signature was forged. She said the police acted with unusual haste in arresting her which reeked of a conspiracy. She alleged that the police had acted high-handedly with her while she was in the police custody and that she was interrogated even at nights. She said though she and her parents had not committed any crime, they spent 42 days in Vijayawada prison.
Vidyasagar Rao, who had an affair with the actress in the past, lodged a complaint with Ibrahimpatnam police near Vijayawada early this year, alleging that he was a victim of her blackmail and extortion. He alleged that the actress had forced him to transfer five acres of his agriculture land in Jaggayyapet in the erstwhile Krishna district to her name.
In support of his complaint, he produced a document dated 2018 in which the actress' address was given at an apartment in Juhu in Mumbai. However, according to her, she purchased the said apartment much later, in 2020. The stamp paper bore the year of its sale as 2023, which, according to her, proves that it is a fake document.
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