'Tainted' cop under scanner for lobbying on behalf of Baderiya

'Anand Kumar asked SIT's lawyer to facilitate bail for the IAS officer'

A senior police officer who served in the Bengaluru commissionerate until last week is in the news for the wrong reasons.

H D Anand Kumar, who was Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime-2) in the city, faces an enquiry for trying to help IAS officer Gangaram Baderiya, who is an accused in the illegal mining case, get bail.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing illegal mining cases in Karnataka, had arrested Baderiya for allowing a mining company to lift iron ore after taking a bribe of Rs 10 lakh. When Baderiya’s bail application was being heard last month, Kumar visited the Lokayukta court and approached the SIT’s Special Public Prosecutor (SPP), requesting him to be “lenient” with the IAS officer. The SPP immediately brought the matter to the notice of the SIT chief, K S R Charan Reddy.

On May 25, the SIT chief wrote to DG&IGP, Rupak Kumar Dutta, and informed him about Kumar’s intervention. The state police chief forwarded the letter to Bengaluru Police Commissioner Praveen Sood, instructing him to order an enquiry and submit a report. Within days of the directive reaching the commissionerate, the state government transferred Kumar to Tumakuru as Additional Superintendent of Police.

An official confirmed that Kumar was DCP (Crime) when he had approached the SPP in the Lokayukta court. He had no business contacting the SPP with regard to the SIT case against an IAS officer, the official added. Baderiya is presently out on bail and has applied for anticipatory bail in other cases of illegal mining registered by the SIT.

Not new to controversy

This is not the first time that Kumar is involved in controversy. During his first posting as Assistant Commissioner of Police in Devanahalli, the Lokayukta police had caught him taking  bribe at the Devanahalli police station but he was acquitted later. As DCP (Crime), he raided Pokers Club. He was accused of high-handedness and not depositing the full money seized at the club. An enquiry is pending against him.

Sood said the enquiry over the Pokers Club raid would be completed soon. “The enquiry seems to be going on. But I am yet to see the letter from the DGP on the recent (Baderiya) case,” he said.