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Leaders of the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) have alleged that the Telangana police are trying to shield BJP MP Bandi Sanjay’s son Bhageerath, who has been booked for allegedly grooming and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl.
A day after the son of the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs was booked under the POCSO Act, BRS working president KT Rama Rao questioned the police for registering another FIR against the victim’s family on Bhageerath’s complaint. He also questioned the alleged delay in the FIR against Bhageerath.
BRS leader and former IPS officer Praveen Kumar addressed the media and demanded an explanation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the allegations.
PM Modi is set to visit Hyderabad on Sunday, May 10 to inaugurate various projects and address a public meeting of the BJP.
“What dystopian nightmarish hell are we all living in? Why should a 17-year-old rape victim and her family struggle for over three months to even get an FIR registered?” KTR said.
Praveen Kumar also alleged that the girl’s family was made to wait for several hours at the Pet Basheerabad police station to register an FIR based on their complaint. During this time, a counter FIR was registered against the girl’s family based on a complaint from Bhageerath himself, the former IPS officer said, alleging that the delay was to ensure Bhageerath’s complaint was registered first.
On May 8, the Pet Basheerabad police in Cyberabad booked Bhageerath for alleged sexual harassment of a minor based on a complaint from the girl’s family.
Hours before this, the Karimnagar II Town police had registered an FIR against the girl’s family, based on a complaint from Bhageerath alleging blackmail and extortion by threatening to file false cases of harassment.
“The Pet Basheerabad FIR was supposed to be registered first, but the FIR which portrays Bhageerath as the victim and the girl’s family as the accused ended up being registered first,” Praveen Kumar said.
KTR questioned the police, asking, “Under what rule did the Telangana police file a honey-trap & extortion case on a minor girl?”
He asked if PM Modi would take action against Bandi Sanjay’s son and dismiss the Minister from his post. He also questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for not voicing support for the girl yet.
According to Praveen Kumar, the girl’s family alleged that Bhageerath sexually assaulted her on at least three separate occasions, including at a farmhouse in Moinabad on December 31, 2025, when he allegedly forced her to drink alcohol.
When the girl’s family went to the Pet Basheerabad police station on May 8, the police officers initially refused to register an FIR, Praveen Kumar said.
He also alleged that a former V6 News journalist who later joined the BJP tried to mediate between the girl’s family and Bandi Sanjay and persuaded them against filing the complaint.
“Are the police protecting Bhageerath because his father Bandi Sanjay is the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, or because he is close to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy?” the BRS leader asked.
He also alleged that the police were delaying recording the minor girl’s statement in front of a magistrate under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Praveen Kumar alleged that the police had invoked mild sections against Bhageerath with punishments of three years of imprisonment or less, to ensure that he can be released on station bail even if arrested.
Bhageerath has been booked under Sections 74 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 75 (sexual harassment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and Section 11 and 12 (sexual harassment) of the POCSO Act.
Praveen Kumar also condemned attempts by BJP supporters to defame the girl on social media, by peddling the narrative of a ‘honey trap’.
“BJP’s social media wing is spreading false narratives on the 17-year-old girl, alleging honey trap and extortion, and claiming that Bhageerath has been implicated in a false POCSO case,” Praveen Kumar said, reading out posts that have tried to portray the girl as ‘cunning’.
He said that the girl’s family was wealthy and didn’t appear like they needed to extort money from Bhageerath.
Bhageerath has reportedly alleged that he had given the girl’s family Rs 50,000 under coercion, and that they had further demanded Rs 5 crore, threatening that her mother would otherwise die by suicide.
The BRS leader demanded that Bandi Sanjay must be removed as Union Minister, that the girl’s statement must be recorded before a Magistrate, her family given protection, and Bhageerath be sent to jail.
Telangana Congress too has questioned the BJP soon after the BRS leaders’ reactions, asking why the party leadership was silent on the allegations.
Bandi Sanjay on the other hand has claimed that the allegations against his son were “baseless”. He also called the case a “political hit job” aimed at maligning him personally ahead of PM Modi’s public meeting on May 10.