The Andhra Pradesh (AP) government on Thursday transferred three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers who faced allegations of targeting Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders, including party President N. Chandrababu Naidu, during the YSR Congress Party’s rule.
A week after assuming office as the Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu shunted out the three officials, who had become controversial for allegedly favouring the then ruling party. Kasi Reddy V. R. N. Reddy, Director General, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), P. V. Sunil Kumar, Director General, AP State Disaster Response Force and Fire Services, and Y. Rishanth Reddy, Superintendent of Police, Counter Intelligence (CI) Cell, have been transferred.
V. R. N. Reddy, who was removed as Director General of Police (DGP) by the Election Commission of India a few days before the May 13 elections following complaints by the TDP, has been posted as Commissioner, Printing, Stationery and Stores Purchase, which is considered a loop line post.
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The two other officers were not given any new postings. Sunil Kumar has been directed to report to the General Administration Department (GAD), while Rishanth Reddy has been directed to report to the DGP office. The latter was also relieved from the full additional charge as SP (Red Sanders) Task Force.
V.R.N. Reddy was appointed DGP by the previous government in 2022. He was then serving as the DGP (Intelligence). The Election Commission of India had ordered his transfer as DGP a week before the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state after TDP leaders lodged several complaints and raised the issue of lapses in security arrangements during the Prime Minister’s public meeting at Chilakaluripet.
In a letter to the ECI, the TDP had also suspected the involvement of V.R.N. Reddy in the alleged tapping of the mobile phone of party General Secretary and Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh, using the suspected Pegasus software.
Sunil Kumar, a 1993 batch IPS officer, was the Chief of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) before he was posted as DG, State Disaster Response Force and Fire Services. It was during his tenure that the CID registered cases against Chandrababu Naidu and other TDP leaders.
These include cases relating to alleged insider trading of lands in Amaravati, the Inner Ring Road scam, and the SSC question paper leakage scam. TDP had lodged a complaint with the ECI against Rishanth Reddy, calling him a hardcore supporter of the YSRCP.
The TDP had alleged that Rishanth Reddy was given the additional post of SP (Red Sanders) Task Force deliberately to put blocks to the opposition parties by checking their vehicles in the guise of checking red sander smuggling. Before being appointed SP, Counter Intelligence (CI) Cell, Rishanth Reddy was SP, Chittoor. While serving in the post, he had booked Chandrababu Naidu and other party leaders for allegedly fomenting violence in Rayalaseema during a visit to irrigation project sites.
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