DGP rank IPS officer seeks CBI probe into 'forgery,fraud' by some police officers in his suspension case

Amaravati, Apr 10 (PTI): DGP ranks IPS officer A B Venkateswara Rao has requested the Andhra Pradesh government to order a CBI probe into acts of ''forgery, fraud, witness tampering and evidence tampering indulged in by certain police officers and police organisations'' in the case pertaining to his suspension from service.

In a letter to Chief Secretary Aditya Nath Das on Friday, a copy of which was available to the media on Saturday, the 1989-batch IPS officer named three senior police officers, officers of the Intelligence Departments and several others as those ''involved in the crimes''.

''Since the officers involved are senior officers holding important posts, I request the government to consider whether their continuance in the same posts would be an impediment to a fair and timely investigation,'' Rao said in his letter.

While attaching the ''forged, created and tampered'' documents, Rao claimed he had all evidence, a 'sample analysis' of which he enclosed, pertaining to his contentions.

Venkateswara Rao served as DG (Intelligence) during former Chief Minister Chandrababu's tenure.

The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government had on February 8, 2020, placed him under suspension over ''serious misconduct in the process of procurement of security equipment'' when he headed the Intelligence wing.

Following the 'Articles of Charge' framed against him, he appeared before the Commissioner of Inquiries R P Sisodia from March 22 to April 4 and submitted a 12-page 'Statement of Defence', accusing ''some senior officers who are expected to be responsible and accountable to Rule of Law'' of indulging in ''nefarious acts such as witness tampering, forgery and evidence tampering.'' Following it up with a letter to the Chief Secretary, Rao said during the inquiry, he came to notice the forgery, fraud, witness tampering and evidence tampering by some police officers and police organisations involved in conducting various enquiries and inquiries.

He also found fault with the role played by the then Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney and General Administration Department (Political) Principal Secretary Praveen Prakash, saying the government issued an ''illegal and arbitrary order'' placing him under suspension as a result of their ''non-application of mind.'' Rao sought action against them for issuing the orders ''misguiding the disciplinary authority and the government due to their negligence and dereliction of duty.'' 

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