Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy of the Telangana High Court on Monday directed officials of Central Crime Station of the Hyderabad police not to take any coercive steps against former police officer Shivananda Reddy and his family members till Tuesday in a case of land grabbing registered against them.
Mr. Shivananda, who joined the police department of the undivided Andhra Pradesh as Deputy Superintendent of Police, eventually resigned from the department and entered real estate business. The CCS police registered a criminal case against a firm owned by him and his family members, accusing them of grabbing over 20 acres of land at Budvel in Rajendranagar.
Mr. Shivananda moved the High Court on this issue by filing a petition. The court directed him to appear before the investigators on February 26 with all the documents he had in support of his claims. Meanwhile, a team of CCS officials went to Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh, where Mr. Shivananda is campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
Mr. Shivananda and his family members sought a direction not to take any coercive steps against them in the case and grant them bail in the event of their arrest. The judge directed the government counsel to secure instructions on the matter and adjourned the hearing to Tuesday.
In a separate matter, Justice G. Radha Rani of the HC dismissed a criminal petition filed by Kalvakuntla Kanna Rao, nephew of former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao, seeking anticipatory bail in a criminal case registered by the Adibhatla police of Rachakonda.
Also, BJP MP from Karimnagar Bandi Sanjay Kumar and five others filed two separate criminal petitions seeking a direction to quash the First Information Report issued against them by the Uppal police of Rachakonda. The petitioners stated that they were falsely implicated in the case when they called on members of scheduled tribes at Pittalabasthi in Chengicherla to console them over the alleged attack by some Rohingyas while the former were celebrating Holi.
