A sub-inspector with Jubilee Hills police station was arrested by sleuths of the Anti-Corruption Bureau on Thursday while accepting ₹50,000 and two bottles of liquor as bribe, on the instructions of Inspector Balvanthaiah who is on the run.
The accused SI P Sudheer Reddy was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe from complainant Motaparthi Vamshi Krishna who was released on station bail and for referring his case to Lok Adalat by removing Section 406 (Punishment for criminal breach of trust) of IPC from a case registered against him.
A case was registered against Krishna on December 29 last for evading payment of ₹33,130 to Akshaya K of Page 3 Luxury Salon, after he and his wife, availed their services. He was arrested and released on station bail on December 31.
“For having him released on station bail and referring the case to Lok Adalat for settlement, Balvanthaiah through Sudheer demanded ₹1 lakh bribe,” an ACB official said. After a hard bargain, the inspector settled for ₹50,000 and two bottles of whisky.
Sudheer asked Krishna to bring the money to a location on Road No. 10 of Jubilee Hills on Thursday around 2 p.m. In the meantime, Krishna lodged a complaint with ACB officials who followed him to the spot and laid a trap.
After trapping Sudheer, the ACB officials asked the SI to make a phone call informing the inspector that he received the payment. “That conversation was recorded as evidence to prove Balvanthaiah’s involvement in the case,” the officer said.
“Soon after getting information about the trap, the inspector who was on bandobast duty left his official vehicle, changed the uniform and fled. He will be nabbed soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sudheer was arrested and produced before Special Judge for ACB cases, Hyderabad and a team reportedly conducted searches at the residence of Balvanthaiah.
