RGV on the lam

Hyderabad:Popular filmmaker and director Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) remained untraceable when Andhra Pradesh police on Monday went to his residence in Banjara Hills here after issuing summons to him in connection with a case booked in Maddipadu police station of Andhra Pradesh.

Special teams from Maddipadu police in Prakasam district came to the city in connection with the case of morphing the photos of AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. However, they could not find Varma, while his mobile phone remained switched off.

Police teams from AP kept a watch at his house, sources disclosed

IT teams, which are making a parallel investigation, found out that Varma's social media account handles were all showing his location in the city, police sources said.

It was reported that special teams from Prakasam, headed by SP A.R Damodar are seeking the assistance of the local police to trace Varma's whereabouts.

A special team late on Monday has been deployed to Coimbatore, while other teams have been sent to farmhouses in Shamshabad and Shadnagar that Varma used to frequent based on his social media handle locations, AP police sources disclosed.

Meanwhile, Varma, through his counsel, expressed willingness to appear “digitally” before the AP police.

A case was booked against him at Maddipadu police station on November 10, based on a complaint received from one Ramalingam (45) from Maddipadu.

Addressing the media before Varma’s house on Monday, his counsel stated: “As per BNS, there is no requirement for physical presence of (Varma), thanks to Digital India. We urge AP police to give Varma virtual mode and we will cooperate virtually with the investigation.”

Varma was asked to appear before the investigating officer Maddipadu but he did not turn up thrice. He was supposed to attend for recording his statement on Monday, Maddipadu Rural inspector Srikanth Babu told Deccan Chronicle.

“We will arrest Varma no matter where he is. We have given him three chances to appear but he has failed to turn up,” a senior police officer from AP said.