Andhra Pradesh Police Arrest Retired Officer in Custodial Torture Case

Andhra Pradesh Police arrested retired senior police officer Vijay Paul on Tuesday in connection with the alleged custodial torture case of K Raghurama Krishna Raju during the previous YSRCP regime.

K Raghurama Krishna Raju, the current Deputy Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, was briefly arrested in May 2021 during the Covid-19 second wave. He was serving as the Narasapuram MP at the time and was accused of abusing the then Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

During Raju's arrest, Vijay Paul served as a CID assistant superintendent of police (ASP) and allegedly played a role in the "custodial torture" of the former YSRCP MP.

"He (Vijay Paul) will be produced before a local court in Guntur tomorrow (Wednesday). After he is remanded to judicial custody we will seek police custody for further questioning," Prakasam district superintendent of police A R Damodar told PTI.

After the new TDP-led NDA government was sworn in June, Raju, who entered the Assembly as a TDP MLA representing the Undi Assembly constituency, lodged cases against officials and the former CM, alleging that he was tortured in custody and also for "attempting to murder him".