Senior IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre A B Venkateswara Rao, who is of the rank of Director General of Police, does not have much time left for his retirement on superannuation, but he continues to face troubles for his acts of omission and commission during the Chandrababu Naidu regime.
The Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday issued orders appointing an inquiry officer to probe into the charges framed against Venkateshwara Rao, the former intelligence chief of the state, who is presently under suspension.
Senior IAS officer R P Sisodia, who is at present Commissioner of Inquiries, has been asked to inquire into the charges framed against Venkateshwar Rao, especially with regard to those filed under Rule 8 of All India Service (Conduct) Rules 1968.
The government has also appointed an advocate to argue on behalf of the government before the inquiry officer on the charges against the IPS officer. The government asked him to submit his explanation to the charges framed against him within the stipulated time.
In April this year, the state government issued notice to Venkateswara Rao seeking explanation from him in 30 days for his remarks against the service rules of the All India Service Officers.
The government took strong exception to Venkateswara Rao’s statement before the media on April 4, 2021, after attending enquiry before the enquiry officer, wherein the officer made allegations against the government and senior officers in violation of the service rules.
The government enclosed the media reports and audio clips of Venkateswara Rao’s statement, where he also referred to the murder of Y S Vivekananda Reddy. The senior police officer also made derogatory remarks against the inquiry officers in his case, and said that he was implicated in the cases with malafide intention.
The senior IPS officer was close to former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and who played key role in the defection of 23 MLAs from the YSR Congress to the then ruling TDP in 2017-18. He was suspended on February 8 last year for his alleged irregularities in procurement of security equipment from an Israeli company during his tenure.
The Jagan government, which entrusted the case to Anti-Corruption Bureau, alleged that Rao had wilfully disclosed intelligence protocols and procedures of police to the foreign defence manufacturing firm.
