Former DGP V Dinesh Reddy, who recently retired as state police chief after being denied extension, alleged on Tuesday that Kiran’s brother Santosh Kumar Reddy had sought his intervention in settling land disputes in his favour, which he did not entertain.
Hardly 24 hours after the Supreme Court dismissed his petition seeking extension as DGP, Dinesh, while terming Kiran Kumar Reddy as a ‘backstabber’ and a ‘betrayer’, claimed that the former had asked him to state publicly that bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh would strengthen Maoists.
Addressing a press conference here, Dinesh Reddy claimed, “I did not want to give permission to the APNGOs meeting at LB stadium, but the chief minister told me to give permission.”
Going back to July 30, when the Congress Working Committee announced its decision to form Telangana state, Dinesh Reddy said he spoke to the Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB), who is his batchmate and Union home secretary, and got 40 companies of Central paramilitary forces to be deployed in Seemandhra region as a precautionary measure.
“The chief minister didn’t like the fact that I had sought force from the Centre and questioned my actions. I reminded him that there was largescale violence in 2009. He questioned me in turn asking who knows better, politicians or bureaucrats,” Dinesh Reddy claimed.
He said he was also asked to shift the SP of Anantapur earlier when he had lathicharged some people due to a law and order stituation. “I did not yield to the pressure,” he maintained.
Dinesh Reddy alleged that Santosh Reddy had asked him to give certain postings to some officers named by him, but he refused. “However, the files sent by me concerning postings would not move for months from the chief minister’s office,” he alleged.
Dinesh Reddy added that Kiran Kumar Reddy had promised him an extension earlier this year, but went back on his word.
“The chief minister has humiliated me, betrayed me, and backstabbed me by issuing me my superannuation orders just two days before my retirement. Had I been informed of it before, I would have accepted it gracefully. Also, my legal options were limited since I had just two days remaining,” he said. In a caustic diatribe, he said Kiran Reddy put his personal agenda ahead of the state’s.
When asked about the ongoing CBI enquiry against him, the former DGP responded that he had submitted all the documents that were asked from him. “They have also asked Umesh Kumar to appear, but he said he is sick. Even he knows that he doesn’t have any proof against me,” he said, rubbishing that he was asked to demit office due to the CBI enquiry.
Without mentioning Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, or referring to intelligence IG N Balasubramanyam, (who has been chargesheeted in Sohrabuddin’s case) Dinesh Reddy said, “I had sent a report to the chief minister suggesting that a certain officer who was chargsheeted but in a sensitive position should be replaced. However, I got a reply from the CM that there was no need to shift that officer.”
When asked to comment on the present situation in the state, especially Seemandhra, he refused to comment saying that it would be unfair to say anything. Dinesh Reddy also said he had no issues whatever with the media, except for one TV channel and an editor, referring to the cases registered against Zee 24 Gantalu and the resident editor of The Hindu.
“There was no action taken in the cases registered by the police, but only in the ones booked based on complaints by Baba’s men. Also, those cases were not against journalists, but against managements,” he stated.
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