Andhra police official suspended for hostage drama

Hyderabad : The Andhra Pradesh government Tuesday suspended a police official for colluding with a head constable to stage a ‘hostage’ drama last month.

The home department issued orders suspending E. Lakshminarayana, superintendent of police, Police Transport Organisation (PTO), for tarnishing the image of the police department.

According to the orders issued by principal secretary, home, the suspension would continue till conclusion of disciplinary proceedings against Lakshminarayana.

The officer allegedly colluded with head constable K.N. Giri Prasad Sharma to stage a ‘hostage’ drama on the night of Sep 12 in Hyderabad.

Sharma had “confined” the SP in a shop near Birla Planetarium in the heart of the city to demand that his suspension be revoked.

The head constable “released” the officer after Director General of Police Dinesh Reddy agreed to consider his demands.

The police chief last week dismissed Sharma from service. Angry over this, he released a CD in which the SP was seen drinking liquor with him. He also claimed that the kidnap was only a drama.

Sharma was arrested by the police Monday as he was preparing to take out a bike rally to expose “corruption” in PTO. A court sent him to judicial custody for two weeks.