Custodial torture case: Andhra Pradesh police arrests Bihar IPS officer

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh police arrested Bihar IPS officer Sunil Naik in connection with the alleged custodial torture of K Raghurama Krishna Raju, then YSRCP MP and now Deputy Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

Naik is one of several accused in a case registered by Andhra Pradesh Police in July 2024, based on a complaint from Raju. At the time, Raju a YSRCP MP alleged he was tortured and subjected to an attempt on his life while in police custody. He had been arrested during the YSRCP regime for alleged derogatory remarks against then-Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Naik, who served as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Andhra Pradesh, was on deputation from the Bihar cadre. After the 2024 change of government, he returned to Bihar and now serves as Inspector General of the Fire Services Department.

He is being brought to Guntur from Patna on a transit warrant, where the case was registered against him and others, sources in the Andhra Pradesh government said.

The case also names former CID chief P V Sunil Kumar and former state intelligence chief P S R Anjaneyulu as accused numbers one and two, with Jagan, YSRCP supremo and former chief minister as accused number three. Raghurama Krishna Raju alleged custodial torture during his 2021 arrest by these IPS officers at Jagan's behest.

In May 2021, the CID filed a case against Raju, then a ruling YSRCP MP from Narsapuram, and arrested him. The YSRCP had accused him of making inflammatory, violence-inciting statements. Raju filed a petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court claiming custodial violence.

Jagan and the others were booked under IPC Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 166 (public servant disobeying law), 167 (public servant framing incorrect document), 197 (public servant causing hurt), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 465 (forgery), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

In his complaint, Raju alleged that after his arrest, CID officers did not produce him before a local magistrate in Hyderabad or obtain a transit warrant before shifting him to the CBCID office in Guntur. There, then-CBCID DG P V Sunil Kumar, Seetharamanjaneyulu, and others allegedly beat him with a rubber belt and lathi under Jagan's influence.

Despite his heart condition and prior bypass surgery, they denied him medication, sat on his chest, and applied pressure in an attempt to kill him. They also seized his phone and beat him until he revealed the password, the FIR stated. Raju leveled additional serious allegations against several people, warranting further investigation.

A Patna court however rejected the transit remand request filed by Andhra Pradesh police to bring Naik to Guntur on Monday.

According to available details, a team of Andhra Pradesh police led by Superintendent of Police AR Damodhar and Deputy Superintendent of Police Arvind K, along with DySP G B Ramanna Murthy, one woman constable and six other personnel, reached Sunil Naik’s residence at Rajbanshinagar in Patna at around 6 am on Monday and was taken into custody.

Sunil Naik was subsequently produced before the jurisdictional court in Patna for transit remand to Andhra Pradesh. According to the Informatory Petition filed by Naik in a local police station said that the court rejected the transit remand application on multiple grounds.

These included non compliance with mandatory procedure for inter state arrests, absence of a valid arrest warrant, failure to inform local police before effecting the arrest, and lack of required supporting documents.

The court also noted that the documents produced were entirely in Telugu and had not been translated into Hindi or English, making them incomprehensible in the Bihar jurisdiction.

Naik, a 2005 batch IPS officer of the Bihar cadre, is currently serving as Inspector mGeneral of Home Guards and Fire Services in Bihar.