IPS officer who once oversaw Naidu’s arrest suspended | Latest News India

The Andhra Pradesh government has suspended a senior police officer, who headed the probe against then Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu leading to his arrest in the alleged skill development corporation case last year, accusing the officer of “mis-utilisation of government funds”, an official order said on Wednesday.

The government order, reviewed by HT, said that senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer N Sanjay was suspended based on an inquiry report from the state vigilance and enforcement department into his alleged acts of omission and commission during his stint as the director general of AP State Disaster Response and Fire Services in 2003.

Sanjay, a 1996-batch IPS officer, has been asked to remain in Vijayawada and prohibited from leaving without prior government approval, till the inquiry is completed, the order issued by chief secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad said.

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According to the order, during his tenure in the fire services department, the officer was allegedly found responsible for floating tenders for creation of a web portal and supply of hardware. He allegedly colluded with a private firm to make payments, although the firm had completed only 14% of the work.

“Sanjay made payment to the extent of ₹1.19 crore to the private firm, which reportedly spent only ₹3.1 lakh on the workshop. This resulted in the embezzlement of approximately ₹1.15 crore in government funds,” the GO said.

The order further alleged that Sanjay had made payments to a Hyderabad-based firm to conduct a workshop on SC/ST awareness, but the inquiry found there was no such company in Hyderabad.

Sanjay was heading the CID that arrested Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Naidu in September last year in connection with the alleged ₹3,300 crore AP Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam which reportedly took place during his previous stint as the Andhra chief minister.

Sanjay is the fourth senior IPS officer to face suspension after Naidu became the CM following his TD-led NDA coming to power in Andhra Pradesh this summer.