On Friday (12th July), the Andhra Pradesh police registered a case against former state Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and others on charges of criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder, and criminal intimidation. The FIR is based on a complaint filed by former YSRCP MP K Raghurama Krishnam Raju. He is currently a TDP MLA from Undi.
In his complaint, TDP MLA Raju has alleged that the Police officials assaulted him in 2021 at the behest of then-state CM Jagan Mohan Reddy. Notably, Raju was arrested in May 2021 on charges of sedition for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the YSRCP government and then CM Jagan Mohan Reddy.
In his complaint submitted to the Guntur Police, Raju stated that he was arrested in Hyderabad. From there, he was shifted to the CB-CID office in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh without obtaining a Prisoner Transit warrant. It is alleged that at the CID office, the then CID chief PV Sunil Kumar, IPS officer P Sitaramanjaneyulu, and other police officials assaulted him with a rubber belt and lathi. The complaint added that the accused did not even allow him to take medicines as he had undergone a bypass surgery a few weeks ago. He alleged that this was done “under the influence of then-CM Jagan Mohan Reddy”.
In his complaint, he further alleged that the Police took away his mobile phone and forcibly acquired its password.
In the complaint, Raju said, “Sunil Kumar had also threatened to kill me if I did not stop criticising Reddy (then CM of Andra Pradesh).”
Based on his complaint, Guntur district’s Nagarapalem Police registered an FIR in which it made Sunil Kumar the first accused, Sitaramanjaneyulu the second accused, and Jagan Mohan Reddy the third accused.
According to the officials, apart from Ex-CM Reddy, and two senior IPS officers, the Police have also booked retired police officer R Vijay Paul and former Guntur Government General Hospital superintendent G Prabhavati. Both Vijay Paul and Prabhavati were superannuated.
The official added that Raju also alleged that he was subjected to “custodial torture”. Ex-CM Jagan Mohan Reddy and others were booked under IPC Sections 120 B, 166, 167, 197, 307, 326, 465 and 506 read with 34. The Police invoked IPC sections as the case is three years old.
Allegations around Raju’s arrest in 2021 recently came to the fore after he lodged a complaint against Reddy and others on 10th June.
He has accused the former CM and the senior officials of “plotting” a criminal “conspiracy” against him. According to his complaint, senior IPS officers Sunil Kumar and Sitaramanjaneyulu, police officer Vijaya Paul, and government doctor Prabhavathi were part of that “conspiracy.” Notably, he was arrested in May 2021 in the middle of the Covid-19 second wave.
In the complaint, he alleged, “A false case was registered against me by the CB-CID of the Andhra Pradesh government. On May 14, 2021, I was arrested without due process, I was bullied, unlawfully physically pulled inside the police vehicle, and forcibly taken to Guntur the same night.”
Raju, who was a YSRCP MP from Narasapuram further stated, “I was arrested without due process, including the absence of a medical examination or adherence to proper legal procedures…I was kept in the CB-CID office, Guntur from 9:30 pm onwards (May 14, 2021). I was not given my medicine despite having had an open heart bypass surgery.”
It is pertinent to note that when he was arrested, Jagan Mohan Reddy was the state CM, Kumar was heading the CID, Sitaramanjaneyulu headed the Intelligence wing, and Paul was ASP CID.
According to his allegations, when the Magistrate sent him to Guntur Government General Hospital, the then superintendent of the hospital, Prabhavathi, colluded with Sunil Kumar to create false medical reports that no injuries were inflicted on him.
Raju stated that due to police brutality, he was shifted from Guntur to Secunderabad Army Hospital by the orders of the Supreme Court and thereafter he was granted bail by the Supreme Court.
Prior to his arrest in May 2021, rebel MLA Raju made headlines for several months for speaking against CM Jagan Mohan Reddy and he was accused of abusing the then CM Jagan Mohan Reddy daily through select media houses from Delhi and Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, after an FIR was registered against him, Sunil Kumar argued how can a ‘new FIR’ be registered in this case claiming that it was rejected by the Supreme Court.
సుప్రీం కోర్టులో మూడేళ్ళు నడిచి … సాక్షాత్తూ సుప్రీమ్ కోర్ట్ తిరస్కరించిన కేసులో కొత్తగా FIR వేయడాన్ని ఏమనాలో మీ విజ్ఞతకే వదిలేస్తున్నాను
— PV Sunil Kumar (@PV_Sunil_Kumar) July 12, 2024
Taking to X, he wrote, “I leave it to your wisdom to understand how an FIR can be filed anew in a case that has already been dismissed by the Supreme Court after three years of proceedings.”
Allegations of phone tapping and controversy around the lavish state in Vizag
However, Former CM Jagan Mohan Reddy has been at the centre of many controversies and allegations of indulging in criminal acts in the past. Last year in February, two MLAs from Jagan Mohan Reddy’s party raised allegations of phone tapping. They accused their own party and pointed fingers at then CM Jagan Reddy.
One of the MLAs, Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy claimed that his phone was being tapped only after he met with CM Jagan Mohan Reddy. He also claimed that this phone tapping was not possible without CM Jagan’s orders.
Additionally, the current ruling party in the state, TDP recently slammed Jagan Mohan Reddy and his government for alleged “misgovernance” and building a luxurious sea-facing abode in Visakhapatnam (Vizag). According to the TDP, the lavish estate, was meant to serve as Jagan Reddy’s camp office as he proclaimed Vizag as the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
