Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Nov 15: Police officers in strategic positions who had investigated the case relating to alleged collection of bribe by mining baron and former minister, G Janardhan Reddy, were transferred all of a sudden on Wednesday November 14.

The director general of police, Karnataka, affected transfer of three assistant commissioners of police on Wednesday immediately after former minister, Janardhan Reddy, succeeded in getting bail in the case. The department said that assistant commissioners of police of city crime branch, P T Subrahmanya, M H Manjunath Choudhary, and Mariyappa, were transferred.

In the places of transferred assistant commissioners of police, B Balaraju, Shobha Katavkar and B R Venugopal, have been transferred. In addition, inspectors, B Niranjuan Kumar and K Anjan Kumar were appointed by state director general of police, Neelamani N Raju.

The department however said that this transfer was a normal process and there is nothing other than what meets the eye in these transfers. "The ACPs were transferred as they had completed over three years of service in the city. The above investigation does not have anything to do with the transfer," they stated. But transfer of officers in the investigating team when the inquiry is in progress, has given rise to debates and discussions.

The three assistant commissioners of police now transferred had led investigating teams which were formed to investigate Reddy's alleged misdeeds. Choudhary had raided the house and office of Janardhan Reddy at Ballari while Subrahmanya had camped in Hyderabad and had extensively searched for the whereabouts of Reddy, as there was strong apprehension of him hiding there to evade arrest.

Deputy superintendents of police, B Balaraj an Venugopal, who had left the city, have come back to CCB after the five-year service term fixed earlier has been lifted. It is said that out of three ACPs transferred, two were transferred at the instance of additional police commissioner, Alok Kumar. Sources say that Alok Kumar has brought B Balaraj back into the CCB as Balaraj is said to be skilled in investigation, as the department faced reverses in the court in its legal dispute with Janardhan Reddy purportedly because of lack of proper investigation.