Suspended Hyderabad cop arrested in BMW crash case

Hyderabad: A suspended Telangana Police Inspector, who was allegedly absconding for nearly a week in BMW crash case involving son of a former MLA of the state, has been arrested in neighboring Andhra Pradesh.

Durga Rao, who was suspended as SHO of Panjagutta Police Station in Hyderabad in December for allegedly letting off former BRS MLA Shakeel Aami’s son Raheel Aamir, was taken into custody in Guntakal.

The suspended police official had been missing since January 29 and multiple teams were on the lookout for him. He had also moved the Telangana High Court seeking anticipatory bail.

Police had also issued a lookout circular for Raheel, who had left for Dubai via Mumbai to be with his father on December 24, hours after ramming the BMW car into the barricades in front Praja Bhavan, the official residence of Telangana Deputy Chief Minister.

According to police, the incident occurred in the early hours of December 24. A car being driven at a high speed rammed into the barricades in front of Praja Bhavan in Begumpet area. No one was injured but the barricade and the front portion of the car were damaged in the incident.

The person driving the car and three others travelling with him escaped leaving behind the car. Later, a person came to the spot to claim the abandoned car. A case of rash driving was registered against him.

However, subsequent investigation revealed that Raheel, son of the former MLA from Bodhan, was driving the car. The police officers allegedly let off Raheel, thus helping him to escape.

On January 28, police arrested Circle Inspector of Bodhan Police Station, Prem Kumar and former MLA’s aide Abdul Wasey.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner K. Sreenivasa Reddy, in an unprecedented action on January 31, transferred the entire staff of the Panjagutta police station and shifted them to police headquarters. The Commissioner was unhappy with the handling of some cases by the police personnel including the case involving the former MLA’s son.