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The Andhra Pradesh Police on Monday, February 23, arrested IPS officer Sunil Naik in Bihar in connection with the alleged custodial torture of current Deputy Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Assembly, K Raghurama Krishna Raju, in 2021 when YSRCP was in power.
Naik, who had then served as the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Andhra Pradesh, was arrested by a police team from Andhra Pradesh. Guntur district police confirmed the arrest.
However, the Patna Civil Court refused to grant transit remand of Sunil Naik, which means his immediate transfer to Andhra Pradesh has been stalled for now.
The court sharply questioned the procedure adopted by the Andhra Pradesh Police and termed the action legally flawed.
During the hearing, the court said that the Andhra Pradesh Police did not have a valid arrest warrant, no updated case diary was produced before the court, and mandatory legal procedures were not followed. Taking strong exception to these lapses, the court outright rejected the transit remand application.
Naik, an IPS officer of Bihar cadre, had served in Andhra Pradesh on deputation.
After the change of government in 2024, Naik returned to Bihar and is currently serving as Inspector General of the Fire Services Department.
Raghurama Krishna Raju, then an MP, was arrested for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the then Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. He had alleged that he was tortured in police custody.
After the TDP-led coalition came to power in 2024, a case was registered against Jagan Mohan Reddy and others on a complaint by Raju.
In July 2024, police had registered an FIR against Jagan Mohan Reddy, three IPS officers and others on a complaint by Raju, who alleged that there was an attempt on his life during police custody.
Police registered the FIR against the then CID chief PV Sunil Kumar, then Intelligence Chief Seetharamanjaneyulu, then Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, Sunil Naik, then Additional SP R Vijaya Paul, then Superintendent of Government General Hospital Guntur, Dr Prabhavati and others.
Last year, police summoned Sunil Naik for questioning in the case, but he failed to appear.
Earlier on Monday, a team of Andhra Pradesh Police reached IG Sunil Naik's official residence located in the Shastri Nagar police station area of Patna.
The team conducted a search and preliminary investigation inside the IG's residence in the presence of local police officials.
Following news of the action, security around the residence was increased, and a large number of Home Guard personnel reached the spot.
The personnel alleged that the action against their senior officer was being taken in violation of established rules.
After being produced in the Patna Civil Court, advocate Rishikesh Narayan said the court's position, saying that arrests must strictly follow legal procedures.
"Any arrest has a prescribed legal process. Transit remand cannot be granted without proper documents. In the case of IAS or IPS officers, prior permission from the Central government is mandatory. That permission was not sought in this case," he added.
He said that IG Sunil Naik now has the option to approach the Patna High Court for bail, calling the court's decision a major interim relief for the IPS officer.
Raju was elected to the Lok Sabha on a YSR Congress Party ticket from Narsapuram in 2019, but he later became a rebel.
He was arrested on May 14, 2021, at his residence in Hyderabad for speaking against the government and allegedly instigating communal unrest in the state.
Raju alleged that though he was recuperating after cardiac surgery, he was neither medically examined nor produced before a court in Hyderabad. He alleged that he was bullied, physically pulled inside a police vehicle and forcibly taken to Guntur the same night.
He alleged that he was kept in the CB CID office and there was an attempt on his life during the police custody. He alleged that Sunil Kumar, Seetharamanjeyulu and others beat him with a rubber belt and a lathi and did not allow him to take medicines.
The complainant said that despite knowing pretty well that he had undergone bypass surgery, some persons sat on his chest and applied pressure, thereby attempting to kill him.