HYDERABAD: Service record of the Investigating Officer handling the Satyam case, N Balaji Rao, an officer of the rank of DSP, inspires little confidence. One of the high profile cases he had dealt with was the murder of Prashant Reddy, a realtor, in which the then APCC president K Keshava Rao’s son, Venkat, was the prime accused.
The crime was committed in Sept, 2007.
It cost Keshava Rao his job but his son was acquitted.
While forensic experts at the Osmania General Hospital opined that it was a case of murder, the AP Forensic Science Laboratory (APFSL) called it a suicide. Scientific investigation at the APFSL was conducted by a DSP, U Rammohan.
The court set Venkat free but not before remarking that “this type of investigation and collection of evidence is not expected from the CID.” It further said the Investigating Officer “gathered evidence in favour of the accused.” Officials, who worked with Balaji Rao (a 1976 batch officer), describe him as an officer who simply follows the diktat of the powers-that-be. Interestingly, Rammohan, who gave the forensic report in Venkat’s case, is part of the team probing the Satyam fraud.