Ministry of Home Affairs has suspended the appointment of a trainee IPS officer Kokkani Venkata Maheswara Reddy in the wake allegations of dowry harassment, criminal intimidation and caste discrimination against him.
His wife Birudula Bhavana, a 28-year-old Dalit woman working with South Central Railway, alleged that Maheswara Reddy sought a divorce from her so that he could marry another woman from his caste and get more money in dowry. Maheswara Reddy was under probation at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie.
The order from MHA stated that the action against IPS officer was initiated after the allegation against him was brought to its notice by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad.
In October, Bhavani alleged that Maheswara Reddy had threatened to kill her if she didn’t give him a divorce as his family would not accept his marriage to a Dalit woman. She also alleged that her husband made explicit threats to kill her siblings as well if she did not agree to give him a divorce
Maheswara Reddy hails from Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh. According to Bhavana, they were classmates at Osmania University Engineering College and were in a relationship for nine years. In April 2018, they got married without the knowledge of their parents and started living together in Padma Rao Nagar, Secunderabad.
The Jawahar Nagar police in Hyderabad had registered a case against Maheswara Reddy in October under 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the IPC and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The order from MHA stated that pending investigation/trial against him, his Offer of Appointment remains suspended till further notice.
However, MHA also said that it will review the offer of appointment if the trainee is cleared of such criminal proceedings and will enable him to undergo Basic Training Course (BTC) at SVP National Police Academy at Hyderabad without loss of seniority.