Political frenzy over 9-day delay in arresting Union minister's son Bageerath in POCSO case

BRS Working President K T Rama Rao has levelled serious accusations against Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, alleging that he threatened the minor victim's family.

Hyderabad: The political fallout over the arrest of Sai Bageerath, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay, continues to intensify, days after he was taken into custody in connection with the POCSO case filed against him.

BRS Working President K T Rama Rao has levelled serious accusations against Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, alleging that he threatened the minor victim's family, orchestrated a counter-case against them, and shielded the accused for nine days before his arrest.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, KTR questioned why the state government kept a minor girl and her parents waiting at a police station until midnight when she came forward to report the crime, putting the family through tremendous anguish.

He further alleged that Sanjay and Reddy colluded to protect the accused throughout this period, and that it was only after the high court firmly denied bail and widespread condemnation erupted from women across Telangana that the government was forced into acting.

KTR also took a sharp aim at the chief minister's explanation for the delay. As the minister responsible for the Home Department, he said, Reddy should be ashamed of attributing police inaction to the logistical demands of the Prime Minister's visit to the state.

The BRS leader demanded to know whether there is any precedent in the country for a Chief Minister shielding a POCSO-accused for nine days, arguing that this was possible solely because of the nexus between the Union Minister and the Chief Minister.

Reports have also emerged, KTR said, that the accused was concealed during this period in a hospital belonging to a close associate of the Chief Minister and he demanded a thorough investigation into the claim.

KTR challenged both Bandi Sanjay and Revanth Reddy to disclose who conspired to file a counter-case branding the episode a "honey trap" targeting the very family of the girl who had come forward seeking justice.

He further questioned who authored, and who commissioned, the "honey trap" narratives that appeared in sections of the media, and asked whether the Chief Minister and the Union Minister personally called news organisations to suppress coverage of the case. The entire episode, KTR warned, has created a chilling effect that no girl in the state would now dare to file a complaint against the powerful.

Asserting that his party has consistently stood up for victims of injustice across Telangana from Lagacharla onwards KTR was careful to draw a distinction between political accountability and personal animosity. He noted that he had not responded even when Bandi Sanjay spoke disrespectfully about his father, and stressed that his remarks today were not driven by personal grievance. His position, he said, rests on a single conviction that a criminal is a criminal, regardless of who they are.