How Banjara Hills Inspector harassed Rock Club Sky lounge owner, landed in ACB trap

Hyderabad: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officers in Hyderabad caught three police officials of the Banjara Hills police station while the latter were taking a bribe.

A case of criminal misconduct was registered against the three cops: inspector of police M Narender, SI S Naveen Reddy, and home guard Hari of the Banjara Hils Police Station, West Zone in Hyderabad, for harassing a pub owner and demanding Rs 3 lakhs to allow running of the pub.

The case

According to official reports, the case dates to June 18, when Narender demanded a bribe of Rs 4.5 lakhs from Neela Rajeshwar Laxman Rao, managing partner of the Rock Club Sky Lounge in Banjara Hills, for allowing the pub to remain open under his jurisdiction.

Later, the police reduced the amount to Rs 3 lakhs. When Narender sent Hari to collect the bribe, Hari also demanded Rs 10,000 from the pub owner.

While debating the bribe amount, Hari made several WhatsApp calls to Laxman Rao, who is also the complainant in the case. After Rao failed to give the bribe, Narender started harassing the complainant by registering a false case against him with the help of SI Naveen Reddy.

On September 30, on the instructions of Narender, SI Naveen Reddy went to the pub and ordered Rao to come out. Rao was then forcibly taken in the police vehicle and detained for many hours at the Banjara Hills Police Station.

ACB gets involved

“As the complainant Laxman Rao was unable to arrange the bribe amount and the cops constantly harassed him. He later approached the ACB and filed a complaint,” the director-general of ACB Telangana said in a statement.

After conducting a preliminary verification, a case was registered against the three police officials. The investigation is on

Police announcement

If any public servant demands a bribe, the public can reach out to the ACB on the toll-free number 1064 and get legal help.