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Former Andhra Intel chief seeks CBI probe into forgery case
Hyderabad Hyderabad: Senior IPS officer and former intelligence chief of Andhra Pradesh A B Venkateshwara Rao on Saturday asked for a comprehensive probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged forgery of documents by certain senior police officials of the state to fix him in a corruption case
Hyderabad
Hyderabad: Senior IPS officer and former intelligence chief of Andhra Pradesh A B Venkateshwara Rao on Saturday asked for a comprehensive probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged forgery of documents by certain senior police officials of the state to fix him in a corruption case.
Rao wrote a letter to this effect to state chief secretary Adityanath Das. He submitted a set of documents which were allegedly fabricated by the police officials and submitted to the inquiry committee of vigilance and enforcement making false charges against him.
The former intelligence chief, who is presently under suspension, named Director General Police Gautam Sawang, Additional DGP of Crime Investigation Department Sunil Kumar and ACB director general P Seetha Ramanjaneyulu among others.
Requesting that the matter be entrusted to the CBI for thorough investigation, Rao suggested that the senior police officers be shifted from their present positions so as to ensure fair and timely investigation.
Rao, who served as state intelligence chief during the Telugu Desam Party regime, was suspended on February 8 last year for his alleged irregularities in procurement of security equipment from an Israeli company during his tenure.
The Jagan government, which entrusted the case to Anti-Corruption Bureau, alleged that Rao had wilfully disclosed intelligence protocols and procedures of police to the foreign defence manufacturing firm.
Rao challenged his suspension in the Central Administrative Tribunal on February 13, but the CAT dismissed his petition in March. Later, he moved the high court, which revoked his suspension in July. The Andhra Pradesh government challenged this order in the Supreme Court, which lifted stay on his suspension in November, pending inquiry.
In January, the state government extended the suspension of Rao for another six months pending inquiry. It told the Supreme Court that it would complete the investigation and submit a comprehensive report to the court before May 3, when the case was posted for next hearing.
The ex-intelligence chief said even as the inquiry committee began hearing the arguments on March 18 this year, the ACB conducted searches on his residences in Vijayawada and Hyderabad on March 18 and seized a laptop and a desktop containing the notes and questionnaires he had prepared for the inquiry. “They also seized some documents which I kept ready for filing with the Inquiring Authority as defence documents,” he said.
He said he had participated in the inquiry which was held continuously from March 22 to April 4. “During the course of arguments, I found that the police authorities who had deposed before the panel had resorted to forgery, fraud, tampering of witnesses and evidence,” he said, adding that he would prove his charges, if the CBI inquiry was ordered.
When contacted, Director General of Police Gautam Sawang said he would not like to comment on the letter written by Rao to the government at this stage, as the inquiry process was going on. “It is against the service rules of the government servants to comment on the issue which is under inquiry,” he said.
Another senior police official, who was named in the letter, said on condition of anonymity that Rao should not have leaked the letter to social media and mainstream media at a time when he was the facing certain allegations.
“The fundamental to the whole issue is that Rao had entered into an agreement with an Israeli company for supply of some high-cost security equipment and his son was an agent of the company in India. It has been proved. He is only trying to divert the issue by making all sorts of charges against others,” the official said.
