TIRUPATI: Four police officials have been suspended on charges of lackadaisical investigation into the complaints of large-scale irregularities in voter enrolment during the high-stakes Tirupati Lok Sabha by-election held in 2021.
This comes close on the heels of suspension of Annamayya district collector PS Girisha, who was Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) Commissioner at the time of the by-election, MEPMA assistant director Chandramouleeswara Reddy, the then deputy commissioner of MCT as per the directives of the Election Commission of India. The police officials have been suspended over allegations of shoddy investigation aimed at coverup despite availability of evidence like duplicate voter cards.
The suspended officers include the then East and West circle inspectors of Tirupati city police BV Siva Prasad Reddy and Siva Prasad, sub-inspector A Jayaswamulu and head constable K Dwarakanatha Reddy.
They have been accused of gross negligence, dereliction of duty and carrying out perfunctory investigations into multiple cases registered regarding the alleged irregularities. Alipiri circle inspector Devendra Kumar has been transferred to the vacancy reserve (VR).
Based on directives from the ECI, Anantapur Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) RN Ammi Reddy has suspended the four police officers who investigated the complaints of bogus voting and distribution of duplicate voter ID cards during the bitterly-fought by-poll.
The ECI crackdown came after a public outcry and demands for a probe by Opposition TDP, Jana Sena, BJP and Left parties who alleged that the ruling YSRC downloaded and printed over 34,000 bogus voter IDs and used fraudulent votes to win the by-poll. Further investigation into the high-profile case has now been handed over to a new set of officers.