Hyderabad: Former police officer and AP Telugu Desam leader Mandra Sivananda Reddy dodged the city Central crime Station (CCS) police when they went to arrest him at his house in Allur in Nandikotkur mandal of Nandyal district for alleged encroachment on 26 acres of government land in Budvel, Rajendranagar, using fabricated documents.
The police apprehended his wife Uma Devi and son Kanishka in Hyderabad. Sivananda Reddy is wanted by CCS and Cyberabad police for land disputes and encroachments.
Cases were registered against the firm owned by Sivananda Reddy and his family in 2022. The Telangana High Court had directed him to appear before the police on February 26 and submit all the documents of the case.
On Monday morning, the CCS police conducted searches at Sivananda Reddy’s residence at Vessella Meadows near Osmansagar on the city outskirts, and at Allur of Nandyal district in Andhra Pradesh.
When the CCS team reached Sivananda Reddy’s house at Allur, he took a separate exit and escaped, police sources said, adding that they had coordinated with Nandyal police to ensure that he was at home.
TD activists who were at the place blocked the police and facilitated Sivananda Reddy’s escape.
Sivananda Reddy is the TD in-charge for the Nandyal Lok Sabha constituency. He served 18 years in the police, took voluntary retirement and joined the TD after the 2014 elections.
Later, Sivananda Reddy and his family later approached the Telangana High Court with a lunch motion petition seeking a direction to stop the CCS police from taking coercive steps and for bail for Uma Devi and Kanisha.
Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy heard the petition and directed government counsel to get details of the case by Tuesday. He granted relief to the petitioners, directing the police to not arrest them till Tuesday, and release them on personal bond if arrested. He said the petitioners must be available to the CCS police.
