Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday, May 11, directed Director General of Police (DGP) CV Anand to investigate the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) case registered against Bandi Bhagirath, son of Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay, while questioning why the probe had stalled.
Revanth Reddy instructed the DGP to constitute special teams for the investigation. He asked Anand why no action had been taken against the BJP leader’s son despite a case being registered by the Pet Basheerabad Police. The DGP told the Chief Minister that personnel had been tied up in bandobast duty ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s public meeting in Hyderabad.
Separately, Telangana State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (TSCPCR) Chairperson Kothakota Sitha Dayakar Reddy said a special bench would take up the case after obtaining details from the Hyderabad Police.
Telangana Police registered a case against Bandi Sai Bhagirath on May 8 at the Pet Basheerabad Police Station in Hyderabad under Sections 74 and 75 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 11 and 12 of the POCSO Act.
The complainant, a girl aged around 17, alleged she was made to consume alcohol and then sexually assaulted at a farmhouse on the outskirts of Hyderabad on two separate occasions.
On the same day the POCSO case was registered, Bhagirath filed his own complaint at the Two Town Police Station in Karimnagar. In it, he named the minor girl and her parents, accusing them of intimidation and extortion.
Bhagirath said he had met the girl through common friends and that the two had developed a friendly relationship over time, with their families socialising together and visiting temples in Vijayawada, Arunachalam and Tirumala.
He alleged that the girl’s parents later pressured him to marry her and, when he refused, threatened to file criminal cases against him. He said he paid the girl’s father Rs 50,000 on one occasion, after which the family allegedly demanded Rs 5 crore, with the girl’s mother threatening suicide if the amount was not paid.
Bhagirath also claimed that some of his friends had faced similar pressure from the same family and had filed a complaint at Nirmal Police Station in Adilabad district in April 2026. He urged police to investigate the threats and provide him protection.
The Telangana State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has also written a letter to Hyderabad Commissioner of Police VC Sajjanar seeking suo-Moto action against Bandi Bhagirath.
In a related development, BRS leaders filed a representation before the Telangana State Women Commission on Monday, accusing police of deliberately diluting the POCSO charges against Bhagirath and shielding him from investigation.
The party alleged a stark double standard in policing, while Bhagirath’s counter-complaint against the minor victim and her parents was swiftly converted into an FIR at Karimnagar Two Town Police Station, the victim’s complaint under the POCSO Act was registered under lesser provisions with no custodial interrogation or protective action initiated against the accused.
The BRS urged the Commission to call for case records, recommend the addition of stringent POCSO provisions, and ensure no retaliatory action was taken against the victim’s family.
This post was last modified on May 11, 2026 3:53 pm