HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh state intelligence chief AR Anuradha was on Monday shunted out of her post, reportedly for not being able to foresee what was coming with regard to the sensational cash-for-vote scam and the alleged phone tapping by the Telanagana government.
The cash-for-vote scam had put the TDP government and AP chief minister Chandrababu Naidu in a tight spot which even led to a war of words between Naidu and Chandrasekhar Rao.
The AP government replaced Anuradha with AB Venkateswara Rao, presently working as Vijayawada police commissioner. Senior IPS officer D Gautam Sawang has been appointed as the new police commissioner of Vijayawada.
Sources told Express that ever since the cash-for-vote scam surfaced and Revanth Reddy arrested, Naidu reportedly expressed his displeasure with the state intelligence wing for not being able to foresee what was coming with regard to the case. In fact, the TDP government, sources said, had decided on Anuradha’s shift days after Revanth Reddy’s arrest and the alleged phone tapping issue by the TS police surfaced, but since it would have sent a wrong signal, the AP government waited for some time before finally shunting her out .
‘‘Many in the government blamed her for not having the slightest idea what their Telangana counterparts were up to in the events that led to the arrest of Revanth Reddy in the cash-for-vote case. As the chief of intelligence wing, one is supposed to foresee any development that can dent the image of the government,’’ a police official remarked.
A 1987 batch IPS officer, Anuradha was the first woman to head the intelligence wing of Andhra Pradesh. She was handpicked by Naidu for the top post only an year ago and she took charge in June last year. She has now been posted as DG, vigilance & enforcement and ex-officio principal secretary to government.