Telangana IAS officer says falsely implicated in murder of driver

An IAS officer, arrested along with his son in connection with a murder case, said on Wednesday he had been “falsely implicated” and alleged that police tried to extort money from him.

Police denied the charges and said they have enough evidence against Dharavath Venkateswara Rao, Joint Secretary at Telangana Agriculture Corporation, and his son Dharavath Venkata Sukruth (19), who were arrested for the murder of a driver.

“These are false and baseless allegations. We have sufficient evidence against them and that’s why they have been arrested,” deputy commissioner of Police (West Zone) A Venkateswara Rao told PTI.

The bureaucrat and his son, a law student, were taken into custody on Tuesday for the murder of B Nagaraju, the driver of the IAS officer’s wife.

Both of them were on Wednesday produced before a local court which remanded them in 14 days judicial custody.

In a video message, Dharavath Rao accused the police of ill treating him when he took his son to the Jubilee Hills police station for questioning after the crime came to light early this week. The civil servant claimed he was detained.

“I am an IAS officer. I sincerely went to the police station taking my son along. But they wrongfully detained me. They did not even offer me a glass of water.

“I have received phone calls from unknown people to settle the issue with the police by paying money,” he said in the video message aired by a local news channel.

“Knowing that I am an IAS officer they (the police) tried to extort money from me. They ill treated me. I was falsely implicated in the case as I did not agree to pay money,” he said, lying on what looked like a hospital bed.

“I don’t know what happened between my son and the driver,” he said about the case.

The IAS officer on Tuesday fainted in the police station where he was taken after arrest and later admitted in a hospital.

According to the police, Sukruth and Nagaraju were close and would often consume liquor together. During one such drinking session on the terrace of a building in Yousufguda area on the night of March 17, they got into a scuffle.

During the fight, the teenager allegedly hit the driver on his head with a brick, killing him on the spot. Sukruth told his father about the crime and the latter allegedly suggested him to dispose of the body, police said.

The 19-year-old student put the body in a gunny bag and tried to dispose it off when he was spotted by locals who informed the police, the DCP said on Tuesday.

While Sukruth has been booked for murder, his father is facing charges of attempting to destroy evidence and harbouring an offender.