Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar on Thursday, October 30 suspended Central Zone Task Force Sub-Inspector (SI) D Srikanth Goud for allegedly facilitating the escape of two accused involved in a Rs 3,000 crore scam. The SI was suspended for allowing the accused – Satish Vuppalapati and Shilpa Banda – to escape from police custody.
According to Deccan Chronicle, the suspended SI allegedly drove Satish and his wife Shilpa to the Maharashtra border, instructing his team to travel in another vehicle driven by two constables.
It is alleged that the SI had struck a Rs 2 crore deal to facilitate the escape. He has since been detained and questioned.
It is suspected that the SI accepted money from the accused through their relatives, according to reports.
Both Satish and Shilpa were wanted in a case filed by P Vinay Kumar, son of former Union Minister P Shiv Shankar. Vinay alleged that Satish and Shilpa cheated him of Rs 23 crore on the pretext of offering high returns. The case was registered with the Central Crime Station (CCS) on September 18. While the accused were apprehended from Mumbai, the suspended SI displayed dereliction of duty by violating the standard operating procedure.
Instead of travelling in separate official vehicles, the SI and the accused travelled together in the accused’s personal car, while the other police personnel followed in the official vehicle. The two constables were questioned by the Commissioner.
The investigating officer reportedly examined the call data records and GPS locations of Satish, his wife Shilpa, and SI Srikanth Goud which confirmed that they had travelled together.
The SI also allegedly returned three of the five seized mobile phones to the accused while en route. Using these phones, the accused spoke to their relatives for over an hour and reportedly hatched their escape plan.
The SI reportedly maintained a distance of more than 25 km between his vehicle and the official police escort, ignoring the constables’ requests to move closer. This distance and lack of coordination allowed the two accused to escape from police custody at Sadasivpet in Sangareddy on October 24.