Telangana IPS officer arrested in property dispute

Hyderabad, Dec 27: Senior Indian Police Service officer Naveen Kumar Bhatt on Telanagana was arrested on Wednesday in a case relating to a dispute over the property owned by retired IPS officer Bhanwar Lal’s wife.

Central Crime Station (CCS) police arrested Bhatt, Deputy Director of the Telangana State Police Academy. He was booked along with his brother-in-law Orsu Sambasiva Rao and the latter’s wife O. Roopa Dimple last month on a complaint by Mani Lal, wife of Bhanwar Lal.

The case was registered against them on November 17 under Indian Penal Code's Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) r/w 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

While Sambasiva Rao and his wife, accused number one and three respectively, were arrested on December 22, Bhatt, named as accused number two, was absconding.

Sambasiva Rao, a businessman, had taken the house of Bhanwar Lal in posh Jubilee Hills on rent. Though the five-year rental agreement ended in 2019, he refused to vacate the house.

Bhatt was staying in that house on rent in violation of the rental agreement. The complainant alleged that the accused had prepared fake documents and forged the signature to grab her house.

Meanwhile, Bhatt’s family members alleged that it is a conspiracy against him. His son termed the case a conspiracy against his father when he was due for promotion.

"If this can happen to an IPS officer, how can normal people survive in this city," he asked.

He said it was a civil matter pending in the High Court for the last three years. He called the arrest pre-planned and demanded a CB-CID inquiry.