Telangana: ACB arrests Bhadrachalam CI, his gunman in bribery case

The cop reportedly summoned a lorry owner to the police station and threatened to book a case against him

Kothagudem: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered a case of criminal misconduct and arrested Bhadrachalam Town Inspector of Police Barapati Ramesh, his gunman, constable Chele Rama Rao, and a private person Dara Karthik in a bribery case on Thursday.

Speaking to the media, Khammam ACB range DSP Y Ramesh said on March 19, the town police intercepted a lorry transporting gravel from Lakshmipuram village to Bhadrachalam at Godavari bridge. The vehicle was taken to the police station without any case or legal procedure. The CI summoned the person who hired the lorry and its owner A Venkatrami Reddy to the police station and threatened to seize the vehicle besides booking a case against them. The lorry owner told the CI to book the case.

---

Later the CI’s gunman Rama Rao told the lorry owner that he would speak to the CI to settle the matter. After consulting the CI, the gunman told the vehicle owner that if he paid Rs 30,000, the vehicle would be released. But the owner refused to pay the money and told the CI that he could book a case.

The gunman again consulted the CI and told the vehicle owner that if he wanted the lorry released, he had to pay Rs 20,000. The lorry owner said he would pay the amount later. But the gunman insisted that he pay the money the same day and gave him the phone number of Karthik, who runs a chicken shop, to transfer the amount through PhonePe, after which the lorry was released.

During questioning on Thursday, the gunman confessed that he took the money at the behest of the CI. The three accused were arrested and would be produced before the third additional sessions judge for SPE and ACB cases, DSP Ramesh said.

Meanwhile, CI Ramesh, who feigned innocence, entered into an argument with the ACB DSP saying he had nothing to do with the case and that the constable had not given him any money. The CI maintained that his career was being damaged by dragging him into the case.