HANAMKONDA: BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy was arrested late on Friday at the RGI Airport at Shamshabad in connection with an alleged extortion case and released on bail within 18 hours.
The Special Judicial Magistrate of First Class for Railway Cases in Kazipet, Ch Leela Naga Susmitha, rejected the police request for remand and granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 20,000 and surety from two persons.
The arrest followed a complaint lodged on April 21, 2025, at Subedari police station by Katta Umadevi, wife of Manoj Reddy, a resident of Excise Colony, Hanamkonda. In her complaint, Umadevi said that her husband, who runs a granite business in Vangapally of Kamalapur mandal, had been under mental stress for 20 days.
The complainant claimed that Manoj Reddy revealed to her that Kaushik Reddy threatened and extorted Rs 25 lakh from him to allow the continuation of his granite business in Huzurabad.
BRS cadre stage protest at Subedari police station
Umadevi further stated that on April 18, 2025, Kaushik Reddy allegedly called her husband again, demanding Rs 50 lakh and threatening to harm their family if the demand was not met.
Based on her complaint, Subedari police registered a case under Sections 308(2), 308(4), and 352 of the BNS.
Earlier, Kaushik Reddy had approached the High Court seeking to quash the FIR. On June 16, the court dismissed his plea and directed him to cooperate with the investigation. The interim protection from arrest granted earlier was vacated.
Following news of the MLA’s arrest, a large number of BRS activists gathered at the Subedari police station. Former minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao and former government chief whip Dasyam Vinay Kumar were among those who reached the station and staged a protest demanding access to the MLA. The police allowed them to meet him inside the station.
The activists also attempted to burn an effigy of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in front of the police station but were detained and taken to Madikonda police station.
Later, Subedari police took Kaushik Reddy to MGM Hospital in Warangal for a medical examination before producing him in the Kazipet Railway Court.