Andhra orders probe against IPS officer Sunil Kumar in custodial torture case of Ramakrishna Raju

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh government has ordered an inquiry against senior IPS officer PV Sunil Kumar in the alleged custodial torture of the then Member of Parliament and sitting Deputy Speaker of Legislative Assembly K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju.

Sunil Kumar faced misconduct charges when he was the Additional Director General of Police (CID) in 2021. He was allegedly responsible for the “custodial torture” of then Member of Parliament and present Deputy Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju.

Raghurama Krishna Raju is currently the Deputy Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. The case dates back to 2021 Raghurama Krishna was arrested in May 2021 during the Covid-19 second wave when he was serving as the Narasapuram MP for allegedly abusing the then Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

He was accused of torturing Raghu Ramakrishna Raju during CID custody in 2021 for his adverse comments against Jagan.

In GO 96 issued on Friday, Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand said that the government has appointed R.P. Sisodia, Special Chief Secretary to Government (Land and D.M., Registration and Stamps), Revenue Department to inquire into the charge framed against Sunil Kumar.

Further, in terms of Rule 8(6)(c) of All India Services (D&A) Rules,1969, Harish Kumar Gupta (1992), Director General, Vigilance and Enforcement & Ex-Officio Principal Secretary to Government, General Administration (V&E) Department is appointed as Presenting Officer to present the case on behalf of the Government.

What is the case?

Raghu Ramakrishna Raju’s 2021 arrest case has come to the fore after he complained against YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and other officials.

He complained on June 10, 2024, with the Guntur superintendent of police over the three-year-old incident. He accused Reddy and some senior officials of plotting a criminal conspiracy against him.

In his complaint, he alleged that senior IPS officers PV Sunil Kumar and P Sitaramanjaneyulu, police officer R Vijaya Paul, and government doctor G Prabhavathi were part of that conspiracy and subjected him to custodial torture and an attempt was made to murder him.

“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. I was arrested without due process, including the absence of a medical examination or adherence to proper legal procedure, I was kept in the CBCID office, Guntur from 9.30 pm onwards (14 May 2021). I was not given my medicine despite having had an open-heart bypass surgery,” Raju said in the complaint.

Following the police brutality, Raju was shifted from Guntur to Secunderabad Army Hospital by the orders of the Supreme Court, he was granted bail by the Supreme Court.