HYDERABAD: A police officer who was recently terminated from service by director- general of police V Dinesh Reddy filed a petition in the AP Administrative Tribunal (APAT) Monday, stating that her sacking was the result of her refusal to do the police chief’s bidding in a private land deal involving his relatives. Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) P Venkata Ratnam, posted at Ramachandrapuram in Medak district, was relieved of her duties on corruption charges by S A Huda, additional director-general of police (law and order) on Jan 25.Challenging her termination, the SDPO named Dinesh Reddy as a respondent and stated that she was “called to the DGP’s chamber and the DGP started abused me using unparliamentary language for not following his instructions” in a land dispute.
The petitoner stated that she received a phone call from the DGP’s peshi between 4 pm and 5 pm on Dec. 28, 2011, informing her she would be approached by a person named Musuku Srinivas Reddy in whom the DGP was interested. The SDPO said she was told to act strictly act in accordance with Srinivas Reddy’s instructions.
Venkata Ratnam’s petition stated that Srinivas Reddy did call on her the next day. He informed her of a criminal litigation (crime no 107 of 2011) relating to a land dispute and told her that she should instruct the inspector of BDL Bhannuru police station to arrest four of the accused in the case -- namely Musuku Rami Reddy, Musuku Mahipal reddy, Musuku Narender Reddy and Musuku Sridhar Reddy -- and keep them in jail for 10 days in order to pressurise them to come forward for a ‘settlement’ of the dispute.
Venkata Ratnam stated that she then instructed the inspector of the BDL Bhannuru to arrest the four persons. However, he informed her that Srinivas Reddy and the four accused were cousins and the dispute related to the ownership of a piece of family land at Pati village and that several criminal cases had been filed by the disputants against each other and the cases were pending trial.
The four accused had already been arrested in the case on Aug.
2, 2011 and released on bail. The officer further stated that she also received a phone call from the superintendent of Medak on the same day, informing her the DGP was interested in Musuku Srinivas Reddy and she should act in the matter desired by him.
Once again, Srinivas Reddy and his father Narasimha Reddy and his brother-inlaw Amarender Reddy approached her on Jan. 2, 2012 and pressed for the arrest of the four men so that the land dispute could be settled.
She informed them that the four had already been arrested for the offence and released on bail by the criminal court and so could not be arrested once again.
Srinivas Reddy then made a phone call from his mobile to Ashish Reddy, son-in-law of Dinesh Reddy, and asked Venkata Ratnam to talk to him.
The SDPO’s petition states that she explained everything to Ashish Reddy and told him that the request of Srinivas Reddy could not be complied with.
On Jan.
18, 2012, the Medak SP, Venkata Ratnam and the inspector of BDL Bhannur went to the DGP’s office around 3 pm. ``I was called into the chamber of the DGP and he started abusing me using unparliamentary language for not following his instructions. The DGP asked me to get out and simultaneously directed the inspector-general of police and the SP and also the investigating officer, who were in the chamber, to record the statements of Musuku Srinivas Reddy, Narasimha Reddy and others and suspend me from service with immediate effect. Soon after the orders of suspension was served on me,’’ she stated.