Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh Government is likely to hand over IPS officer AB Venkateswara Rao's case to the central investigation agency. Rao, the former chief of Intelligence, was recently suspended on charges of treason and misconduct while discharging his duties.
Authorities said that the DGP-rank officer colluded with an Israel-based defence equipment manufacturing firm in a security equipment deal. The state government has also released a report on decisions Rao had taken during his tenure and stated that all these come under gross misconduct.
“Ventakeswara Rao had colluded with M/s Inflatables Pvt Ltd, an Israel-based defence equipment manufacturer to illegally award and surveillance contract to his son, Chetan Sai Krishna, CEO, M/s Akasam Advanced Systems Pvt Ltd (primary bidder ion behald of M/s RT Inflatables Pvt Ltd.)”, the report read.
The report also mentioned that the deal is a direct breach of an ethical code of conduct and Rule (3) of All India Service (Conduct) Rules, 1968, mentioning that Rao willfully disclosed intelligence protocols to a foreign defence manufacturing firm.
“It was a direct threat to national security and Rao’s actions could critically hamper the security situation of the state. His actions could also put the police personnel at risk by trying to procure sub-standard equipment from Israel,” the report stated.
Moreover, the report also highlighted that the tender process was launched without releasing a Request for Proposal (RFP) and the technical evaluation criteria was not also fixed purposefully. It mentioned about the fact on how Rao willfully disregarded other senior officers’ suggestions in the procurement of the equipment.
On Saturday, the state government issued orders to suspended AB Ventakeswara Rao for his role that is said to take place during the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) regime.
Comments
0 comment