The Andhra Pradesh government on late Saturday night suspended a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Director General of Police (DGP) rank for alleged irregularities in procurement of security equipment when he was posted as the state intelligence chief during the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) regime.
A 1989-batch IPS officer, A B Venkateshwara Rao, was placed under suspension under Rule 3 (1) of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969 in public interest with immediate effect, pending initiation of disciplinary proceedings, a spokesperson from the chief minister’s office said. Rao was not immediately available for a reaction.
According to the CMO spokesman, a departmental inquiry against Rao had revealed that he colluded with an Israeli defence equipment manufacturing firm RT Inflatables Pvt Ltd to illegally award critical intelligence and surveillance contract to his son Chetan Sai Krishna, who is CEO of Akasam Advanced Systems Pvt Ltd.
“This proves a direct correlation between Rao and a foreign defence manufacturing firm, thereby establishing a direct breach of ethical code of conduct and All India service rules,” the spokesman said.
The inquiry further revealed that Rao had wilfully disclosed intelligence protocols and procedures of police to the foreign Defence manufacturing firm, which was a direct threat to national security as intelligence protocols are standard throughout the Indian Police Force.
It said the actions of the IPS officer could hamper the state’s security. “The use of sub-standard equipment by police force may put them in a dangerous situation. It would give access to the foreign firm to state secrets and it could lead to monopoly over all future procurements,” the inquiry report said.
