Overview
- The Anti-Corruption Bureau says inspector Bathula Mahendar demanded ₹9 lakh to avoid implicating the complainant’s relatives in a cyber fraud case and had already taken ₹5 lakh as part payment.
- ACB officers detained the inspector at his workplace while he was reportedly taking the remaining ₹4 lakh in cash after the complainant complained to the agency.
- Searches of the officer’s home recovered ₹13 lakh in unaccounted cash, gold ornaments and property-related documents and investigators are verifying those assets.
- The accused was arrested and produced before the special court for SPE and ACB cases at Nampally for judicial remand and formal charges will follow the ongoing probe.
- The case raises wider concerns about misuse of investigatory power in the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau and the ACB’s sting and asset checks will shape any departmental or criminal fallout.