Hyderabad: The arrest of Bandi Sai Bageerath in a Safety of Kids from Sexual Offences (POCSO) case has dominated Telangana’s political panorama over the previous two weeks. Here’s a take a look at who’s concerned, what’s alleged, and the way the case has unfolded.
Who’s Bandi Sai Bageerath?
Bageerath is the 25-year-old son of Karimnagar MP and Union Minister of State for House Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, one of many Bharatiya Janata Celebration’s (BJP) most distinguished faces in Telangana. The case in opposition to him has put his father, in addition to the occasion, in an uncomfortable highlight.
What’s the allegation?
On Could 8, a case was registered by the Pet Basheerabad Police primarily based on a grievance by the mom of a 17-year-old lady, who alleged that Bageerath sexually assaulted her daughter on two separate events at a farmhouse on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The case was registered underneath sections 74 (assault or prison pressure in opposition to a lady with intent to outrage her modesty) and 75 (sexual harassment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 11 (acts dedicated with sexual intent, corresponding to passing sexually colored remarks, displaying pornography, making inappropriate gestures or digital stalking) and 12 (sexual harassment of a kid) of POCSO Act.
The survivor’s mom later launched an in depth assertion saying her daughter first met Bageerath in 2025, that he initially introduced himself as a buddy, and that the connection step by step started to have an effect on the lady’s research. In keeping with the assertion, Bageerath sexually assaulted the lady for the primary time on December 31, 2025, after consuming alcohol, and that the assaults continued on subsequent events.
The household stated that whereas they had been mentally and legally making ready to combat the case, they discovered on April 21, 2026, {that a} blackmail grievance had been filed in opposition to their daughter. The next day, a person recognized as Sangappa visited their residence to mediate between the 2 events.
On April 23, the household met Bandi Sanjay Kumar by Sangappa, hoping the minister would intervene. The survivor’s mom alleged that Kumar spoke to them in a derogatory method, threatened them and drove them away.
What does Bandi Bageerath say?
On the identical day the primary info report (FIR) was registered, Bageerath filed his personal grievance on the Two City Police Station in Karimnagar. He claimed he met the lady by widespread associates, that the 2 developed a pleasant relationship over time, and that each households had socialised collectively, together with visiting temples in Vijayawada, Arunachalam and Tirumala.
He alleged that the lady’s mother and father subsequently pressured him to marry her and, when he refused, threatened to file prison circumstances in opposition to him. He stated he paid the lady’s father Rs 50,000 on one event, after which the household escalated their demand to Rs 5 crore, with the lady’s mom allegedly threatening suicide if the quantity was not paid.
Bageerath additionally claimed that a few of his associates had confronted related points with the identical household, and {that a} grievance had been lodged at Nirmal Police Station in Adilabad district in April 2026. He urged the police to analyze the threats and supply him safety.
What occurred on the Telangana Excessive Court docket?
On Could 12, Bageerath approached the Telangana Excessive Court docket‘s trip bench looking for interim bail. His counsel, senior advocate S Niranjan Reddy, argued that bail in POCSO circumstances was not unprecedented and that courts had inherent authority to grant it.
He submitted chat message exchanges between the 2 people, claiming they confirmed “cordial relations” eight to 10 hours earlier than and after every of the alleged incidents. He additionally argued that the minor lady had actively chosen locations for a few of the outings and had bought movie tickets on one event.
On Could 15, Justice T Madhavi Devi rejected Bageerath’s interim bail plea after a marathon listening to that ran from 9 pm to 11.45 pm, and reserved orders on the anticipatory bail petition for Could 21. The decide declined to grant interim safety or established order regardless of repeated requests from his counsel.
In the course of the listening to, Justice Devi flagged a social media smear marketing campaign concentrating on her, saying claims had been circulated that she had been provided one thing in change for granting bail. Senior counsel Niranjan Reddy stated he had seen the identical content material however had chosen to disregard it, including that strict motion was wanted to stop such assaults on the judiciary.
Seek for Bandi Bageerath
In the meantime, the Cyberabad Police had tracked Bageerath’s cell phone location and despatched a discover to his uncle’s residence on Could 13. By Could 14, with Bageerath failing to seem earlier than the Pet Basheerabad Police, Cyberabad police launched a proper search operation, dispatching particular groups to Hyderabad, Karimnagar and Delhi.
In Karimnagar, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) scholar wing BRSV put up posters calling him an absconder.
The place does the political blame fall?
The case put the Telangana BJP in a clumsy place. State occasion president N Ramchander Rao described it as one thing that occurred inside Bandi Sanjay’s household, with which the occasion had nothing to do. He added that even Bandi Sanjay was not personally concerned, and that if a member of the family was discovered responsible, the legislation would take its course.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy took a sharper line, questioning Telangana Director Common of Police (DGP) CV Anand instantly over the preliminary delay in motion on Could 11, and ordering particular investigation groups to be constituted. The DGP defined that personnel had been tied up in bandobast obligation forward of Prime Minister Modi’s public assembly in Hyderabad.
Reddy subsequently ordered the appointment of Kukatpally Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ritija to steer the investigation. The Telangana State Fee for Safety of Little one Rights additionally stated a particular bench would take up the case after acquiring particulars from the Hyderabad Police.
The place does the case stand now?
Bageerath was arrested on Could 16 close to Appa Junction, near the Telangana Police Academy in Narsingi. Cyberabad Commissioner of Police Ramesh Reddy clarified that Bageerath was arrested, not surrendered, as had been earlier reported, after the Particular Operations Staff stopped the automotive he was travelling in.
He was taken to the Pet Basheerabad Police Station, the place he was questioned for practically two hours and his assertion recorded. He was then taken to a main well being centre in Medchal for a medical examination, after which he was produced earlier than the Medchal courtroom. The courtroom remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody until Could 29.
Later that night time, he was shifted to Cherlapalli Central Jail underneath heavy police presence.
What Bandi Sanjay stated after arrest
After his son’s arrest, Union minister Bandi Sanjay, in a publish on X, stated, “I wish to reassure each well-wisher, supporter and karyakarta that there was no wrongdoing from our facet. We’ve got full religion within the authorized course of and reality will finally prevail.”
Kumar requested everybody to know that it is a “private household matter” and they’ll proceed to combat it legally with full religion within the judiciary and justice system.
