Court raps Andhra Pradesh police; IPS officer set free

A Patna court refused transit remand to an Andhra Pradesh police team that attempted to arrest senior IPS officer Sunil Kumar Nayak, citing procedural lapses. The officer was released after the court noted the absence of an arrest warrant and case diary

Patna: A police team from Andhra Pradesh on Monday arrived in Patna to arrest a senior IPS officer, only to be ticked off by the court concerned, which refused to grant transit remand citing “procedural lapses”.

According to Bhanu Pratap Singh, SP City (East), Patna, the visiting police team took into custody Sunil Kumar Nayak, a 2005-batch IPS officer, who had a few years ago served in Andhra Pradesh on an inter cadre deputation, early in the morning.

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Nayak, who is currently posted here as IG, Fire and Home Guards, “was picked up from his official residence at around 6 am. The Andhra Pradesh Police later contacted us seeking our help in reaching the court to obtain transit remand,” said the SP.

A number of home guard personnel, among whom Nayak appeared to be quite popular, created a ruckus at the IG’s residence, raising objections over the manner in which the IG was rounded up. They were pacified by Singh, who reached the spot with a team of local police.

Singh said, “Before the court, facts like Patna Police receiving no prior information about the incident were submitted. The court noted it was a procedural lapse. The court also frowned upon the Andhra Pradesh Police not carrying the case diary or an arrest warrant and refused to grant transit remand. Accordingly, the officer has been set free. He will not be treated as having been arrested.”

Replying to a query from journalists, he said, “It is for the Andhra Pradesh police to decide what action it would take if it needs the officer in its custody. We have not lodged an FIR against them for wrongful detention of the IG, but we are looking into what action, if any, we might have to take.” Nayak had been named in an FIR lodged in Guntur district in the year 2024, by Andhra Pradesh Assembly Deputy Speaker and senior leader of the ruling TDP Raghu Rama Krishna Raju.

Raju had alleged custodial torture in 2021, when he was the MP from Narsapuram, and was arrested by the police in connection with statements he gave against the then Chief Minister and YSR Congress supremo Jaganmohan Reddy.

In his FIR lodged against several sections of the IPC, including 307 (attempt to murder), Raju had named a number of police officials, including Naik, who was then serving as DIG(CID) in the southern state.