Hyderabad: An FIR has been lodged against former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and two police officers on charges of attempt to murder.
Ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA K Raghurama Krishna Raju filed the FIR, alleging that a ‘criminal conspiracy’ was plotted against him three years ago.
“Raju sent his police complaint through e-mail one month ago and after taking legal opinion, I registered a case at 7 pm on Thursday against the former chief minister and others,” PTI quoted a police officer as saying.
Jagan and IPS officers PV Sunil Kumar and PSR Sitaramanjaneyulu apart, two others have been named in the FIR — retired police officer R Vijay Paul and former Guntur Government General Hospital superintendent G Prabhavat.
Raju, was arrested in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, claimed it was a conspiracy and alleged that he was subjected to custodial torture.
“A false case was filed 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 stated in the police complaint.
At the time of Raju’s arrest, Jagan was the CM, Sunil Kumar was heading the CID, Sitaramanjaneyulu the intelligence wing, Paul was assistant superintendent of police CID.
Raju, who was a Lok Sabha MP from Narsapuram, won the Telangana Assembly election – which was held simultaneously with LS polls — from Undi constituency.
The Telugu Desam MLA said he was abused weeks after undergoing an open heart surgery, and also received death threats for criticising the chief minister.
“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,” Raju alleged.
He further said when the magistrate sent him to Guntur Government General Hospital, then-superintendent Prabhavat colluded with Sunil Kumar to create false medical reports that no injuries were inflicted on his person.
“Due to police brutality, I was shifted from Guntur to Secunderabad Army Hospital by the orders of the Supreme Court and thereafter I was granted bail by the Supreme Court,” Raju said.
