Siddipet ACP Suman Kumar Faces Allegations of Drunk Driving Cover-Up
Hyderabad: Siddipet ACP Suman Kumar, charged for obstruction of duties during a drunk driving test last week, was found violating the rules in more than one way, sources said on Sunday. He has been left off on station bail and no action has been taken against the ACP for obstructing his colleagues from performing their duty.
Police said that Suman Kumar was not at the scene where a fracas broke out during a drunk driving test on November 13 near the SR Nagar Metro Rail station. He arrived there later in a car that was being driven by a drunk person, sources said. Kumar knew that the driver of the car was drunk and, despite being a traffic ACP, allowed him to drive and travelled in the vehicle, said inspector G. Srinivas Varma of the Madhuranagar police who are carrying out the investigation.
The ACP not only obstructed the on-duty traffic sub-inspector G. Kantha Rao from performing his duties but also tried to sit in the car’s driver’s seat and claim he was at the wheel. In addition, ACP Suman Kumar instructed the man who was actually at the wheel, Jaipal Reddy, to not take the breathalyser test. He also instructed Jaipal Reddy to not take the drunk driving test, the Madhurnagar inspector said.
These were the findings of a police inquiry and CCTV footage to which Deccan Chronicle has access.
Suman Kumar, on November 14, the day after the incident, went to the Madhurnagar police station to lodge a complaint but this was not entertained.
Providing details of what happened that night, sources said that SR Nagar traffic SI Kantha Rao stopped a two-wheeler rider, identified as Venkat Rao, for a drunk driving test. Venkat Rao tried to escape saying he was related to ACP Suman Kumar.
SI Kantha Rao did not budge, and Venkat Rao was forced to take the test which established his blood alcohol content (BAC) around 42 micrograms/100 millilitres (mg/ml) of blood. Venkat Rao then called ACP Suman Kumar over the phone, said G Kantha Rao traffic SI.
Sources said the ACP was reportedly at a party nearby and reached the spot in a car driven by Jaipal Reddy. Matters escalated when the ACP confronted the traffic SI and asked him to release Venkat Rao. When police tried to run a breathalyser test on Jaipal Reddy, Suman Kumar reportedly claimed he himself was driving the car, and even tried to sit in the driver’s seat. Jaipal Reddy was later tested and found with a BAC of 39. The permissible limit is 30.
Sources pointed out that Suman Kumar, a traffic ACP, knowingly allowed a drunk person to drive the car and browbeat the traffic SI. The ACP was asked to come out of the car to which he took strong objection, a police officer said
The Madhuranagar police conducted an and booked the ACP. The IT team cross checked and verified SI Kantha Rao’s statement with CCTV cameras footage. The police have reportedly collected the call data record and location of Suman Kumar before the fracas, and recorded the statement of Venkat Rao, police said.
The reports are with senior police officials, “We have done a thorough investigation based on sub inspector Kantha Rao’s complaint and submitted the reports to our senior officers,” Madhuranagar inspector G. Srinivas Varma told Deccan Chronicle.
A senior police officer said that as Suman Kumar was a DSP rank officer, it would take time for the report to travel up the hierarchy via the station house officer to the ACP, the DCP and to the DGP.