Five held for fabricating false case against police officer in Guntur

The Guntur police arrested five persons and are on the lookout for a vernacular TV journalist for allegedly conspiring to frame a police officer under false charges.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Vakul Jindal told reporters on Thursday that BRK News Channel reporter Kanneganti Arun Babu masterminded the plan to implicate Circle Inspector (CI) Matangi Srinivasa Rao after the latter refused to pay him money.

According to the police, Arun Babu staged an incident by hiring a group to damage the rear mirror of his car on November 4 at Krishna Nagar in Guntur, and then lodged a false complaint claiming that the officer was behind the act. Acting on his directions, associates Bade Jagadish, Meda Sampath Kumar, Velisetty Adarsh Babu, Sai, and Prasanna Reddy carried out the vandalism, while another associate recorded the act on video.

Based on evidence from CCTV footage and call records, police arrested Jagadish, Sampath Kumar, Adarsh Babu, Sai, and Prasanna Reddy, while efforts are on to nab the remaining accused.

SP Vakul Jindal said that the prime accused Arun Babu faces multiple previous cases across Guntur and Palnadu districts. Some of the other accused involved in the case also have criminal backgrounds.

Meanwhile, the Information and Public Relations (I&PR) authorities in Guntur district told The Hindu that Arun Babu was with Andhra Prabha Telugu daily for sometime in the past, from where he accessed government recognised accreditation card. The I&PR authorities also confirmed that his accreditation was withdrawn nearly a year back as he faced some allegations at that time. Later, he joined BRK Channel as per the information provided by the police.