The Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday, September 15, suspended three senior IPS officers for acting in haste and arresting Bollywood actor Kadambari Jethwani even before registering the case. Former Vijayawada Commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata, Former Vijayawada Deputy Commissioner Vishal Gunni and Former DGP (Intelligence) Sitharama Anjaneyalu were charged with improper investigation on Sunday, September 15.
The three officials were suspended under Rule 3(1) of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969. According to the inquiry report, Sitharama Anjaneyalu booked flights for the other officers to Mumbai for the arrest of the actor without proper written instructions or due investigation. The officers have been asked not to leave Vijayawada on grounds that the suspended officers would influence the witnesses in the case and destroy evidence in Mumbai.
Commissioner Kanthi Rana and Deputy Commissioner Gunni have been charged with acting solely on oral instructions and arresting the actress without due diligence. The officers are also accused of carrying out an arrest even before the registration of the First Information Report (FIR) which raises concerns of procedural lapses.
Jethwani had complained to NTR Police Commissioner SV Rajasekhar Babu in August accusing YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader and movie producer KVR Vidyasagar of colluding with the now suspended officers and filing a case of extortion and forgery against her. Jethwani said that along with her, her parents were picked up from Mumbai to Vijayawada without any prior notice and further alleged that they were placed in judicial custody for over a month.
Jethwani’s advocate, N Srinivas, alleged that YSRCP leader Vidyasagar had fabricated land documents to frame Jethwani and her family of extortion and further stated that the officials in question did not allow them to file a bail plea for several days. She said that the police subjected her and her elderly parents to humiliation and unlawful detention, with her family spending over 40 days in judicial custody.