Five TS cops get Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation
Hyderabad: Five police personnel from the state were awarded the Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation for 2022. They are among the 151 police personnel awarded the medal nationwide.
The medal winners from the state were:
Prathapagiri Venkataramana, DSP Vigilance, TSSPDCL, Ranga Reddy district; Rudravaram Gandla Siva Maruthi, ACP Asifnagar, Hyderabad; Anji Reddy Bujoor, station house officer, LB Nagar, Rachakonda; Ashala Gangaram, ACP Balanagar, Cyberabad; and Raghu Veggalam, DSP Zaheerabad, Sangareddy district.
These officials were recognised for their investigation into separate cases of sexual assault on minors and also a murder of a migrant worker from Odisha.
The medal was constituted in 2018, with the objective to promote high professional standards of investigation of crime and to recognise excellence in investigation.
The medal winners said that while they felt honoured. ensuring justice to the victims in court had given them more satisfaction. In all these cases, medical, technical and scientific evidence gathered by the officers help establish the guilt of the accused in court, resulting in their conviction.
Venkataramana, while working as inspector, Tukaramgate, Hyderabad, investigated the case of Botla Mallikarjun, a Home Guard working with city police. He had raped a physically challenged girl several times which led to her becoming pregnant. The court had sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for 30 years and a fine of Rs 50,000.
The court also directed the government to pay a compensation of `7 lakh to the victim. This case was disposed of in 78 days of filing the chargesheet. It was also the time an accused in a rape case was sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Siva Maruthi investigated the case of sexual assault on a minor girl at Langer Houz in 2019. When the victim resisted the assault, the accused tortured her resulting in fractures to both her shoulders. The court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment till his death and awarded `7 lakh compensation to the victim.
Anji Reddy, when posted at Medipally, Rachakonda commissionerate, arrested an Odisha native worker who killed his friend, another migrant worker, in 2020. The duo quarrelled over a petty financial issue and the accused fled to Odisha after the murder. The accused was awarded life imprisonment in 2021.
Gangaram, who when posted at Abids, Hyderabad, investigated the case of a minor girl raped in 2018. The accused was awarded imprisonment for 20 years.
Raghu Veggalam, then ACP Armoor, Nizamabad, secured 20-year jail in a case where a 16-year-old girl was raped and became pregnant as a result. The victim's family migrated to Armoor from Patancheru near Hyderabad and were working as daily labourers, when the accused trapped her in year 2020.
The medal was constituted in 2018, with the objective to promote high professional standards of investigation of crime and to recognise excellence in investigation.
