Cop wanted in Rs 30 lakh theft is holed up in AP

Hyderabad: Tappachabutra detective inspector Y. Rajashekar, wanted in the case of theft of Rs 30 lakh currency notes, appears to be taking shelter in East Godavari district in AP and shifting between there and Vijayawada. Investigating officials said he escaped by a hairsbreadth a couple of times in their hunt.

Till Wednesday, the police who grilled his family members in Gachibowli and Vijayawada could not get any breakthrough. Thursday was better. Sources said that Rajashekar had two wives, one in Gachibowli and another in Vijayawada.

Police said he had gone to his wife in Vijayawada with the cash that he stole along with Congress leader Tirumalesh Naidu from businessman Laxman Agarwal. Teams from the Commissioner’s Task Force and West Zone Police travelled to Vijayawada on his trail.

“We found he was taking shelter at the house of friends and relatives and moving between Vijayawada and East Godavari district. We missed him by a few hours,” an investigating official said.

An investigating official alleged that while working as inspector at Nampally, Rajashekar had raided a gaming den in 2013 and had demanded Rs 20,000 to leave out the name of a boy from the chargesheet. He was caught red-handed by the Anti Corruption Bureau while accepting the bribe and was suspended.
An official said that he returned to the department using political influence and was involved since then in making illegal settlements.

Rajashekar along with Tirumalesh Naidu and six others robbed Laxman Agarwal when he came to the city to exchange old currency for new for a commission. They trapped him in a private guest house on the pretext of exchanging demonetised currency and took away his cash.