A suspended head constable in Andhra Pradesh who held his boss, an SP, hostage for more than four hours on Wednesday has claimed to have earned a reprieve.

The head constable, Girish Sarma, met acting director general of police V Dinesh Reddy on Thursday and apologised for his “mistake”.

Sarma said the DGP assured him he would not be booked for holding E Laxminarayana, superintendent of police transport organisation (PTO), captive.

The DGP’s office, however, had a different take. Reddy ordered a probe into the hostage crisis during which Sarma had also threatened to kill the SP if the police mounted a rescue attempt.

Sarma, who was suspended on charges of misdemeanour in May when he was posted in the PTO, said the DGP told him he would get a fresh posting and his demands, which include a probe into alleged corruption in the PTO, would be looked into.

“No action was initiated over my earlier representations. Instead, I was suspended. I was angry because I was without salary for months and hence took the SP hostage.” Sarma added that the SP had pardoned him.