Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and former Director General of Police (Intelligence) P. Sitarama Anjaneyulu, who was arrested on April 22, 2025, by the state’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Hyderabad, was sent to three days of police custody. The IPS officer was in judicial custody.
The arrest is linked to allegations of harassment and wrongful detention of Mumbai-based actress Kadambari Jethwani and her parents.
Anjaneyulu, a 1992-batch IPS officer who served as Andhra Pradesh’s intelligence chief under former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, was taken into custody from his residence in Hyderabad’s Begumpet area.
Following his arrest, he was transported to Vijayawada, where he underwent over five hours of questioning at the CID office. On April 23, 2025, a city court remanded him to judicial custody until May 7, 2025, after he was produced before the Third Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate. A subsequent court order on April 25 granted the CID three days of police custody for further interrogation, with stipulations for medical tests and the presence of his lawyers during questioning.
What are the Charges?
The charges against Anjaneyulu stem from a complaint filed by Ms. Jethwani in August 2024, after the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition assumed power.
Actress Kadambari Jethwani alleged that Anjaneyulu orchestrated her and her parents’ illegal arrest in February 2024, based on a fabricated land dispute case initiated by YSRCP leader and film producer Kukkala Vidyasagar. The actress claims she was targeted in retaliation for refusing to withdraw a sexual assault complaint she had filed in Mumbai against a business tycoon.
The CID has charged Anjaneyulu and five others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement, and forgery.
Background
The controversy traces back to February 2024, when YSRCP leader Vidyasagar filed a complaint at Ibrahimpatnam police station, accusing Ms. Jethwani of forging property documents and attempting to grab land in Jaggaiahpet, Krishna district.
Acting on IPS officer Anjaneyulu’s alleged oral instructions, a police team led by then-Vijayawada Deputy Commissioner of Police Vishal Gunni arrested Kadambari Jethwani and her parents in Mumbai without prior notice or adherence to legal protocols.
The family was brought to Vijayawada, where they endured over 40 days in judicial custody before securing bail. Ms. Jethwani’s advocate, N. Srinivas, claims the charges were baseless, supported by forged documents, and that the police delayed their bail plea, subjecting them to mental and physical harassment.
Following the change in government, actress Kadambari Jethwani lodged a counter-complaint with NTR Police Commissioner S.V. Rajasekhar Babu, naming Vidyasagar as the primary accused (A1) and Anjaneyulu as the second accused (A2). The complaint also implicated former Vijayawada Police Commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata (A3), former West Zone Assistant Commissioner of Police K. Hanumantha Rao (A4), former Ibrahimpatnam Inspector M. Satyanarayana (A5), and IPS officer Vishal Gunni (A6).
All three IPS officers, Anjaneyulu, Tata, and Gunni, were suspended in September 2024 for misconduct and dereliction of duty, with Tata and Gunni securing anticipatory bail in January 2025. Mr. Vidyasagar, arrested earlier, was granted bail in December 2024.
Political repurcussions
The ruling TDP, led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, has termed Mr. Anjaneyulu’s actions emblematic of the YSRCP’s alleged misuse of state machinery.
In a statement on X, the TDP claimed Anjaneyulu ‘mobilized the entire government machinery’ to harass Ms. Jethwani under then CM Jagan’s directions, asserting that the NDA government is now delivering justice.
Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha emphasized the transparency of the investigation, noting that Ms. Jethwani’s faith in the NDA government led to the probe uncovering the officers’ roles. She contrasted the TDP’s record, claiming no officials faced hardship under their rule.
The YSRCP, however, has decried the arrest as a ‘political vendetta.’ Former YSRCP minister Ambati Rambabu defended Anjaneyulu as a respected officer who curbed rowdyism in Guntur, alleging that the TDP is targeting YSRCP-affiliated officials to demoralize the police cadre. YSRCP leader R.K. Roja called the arrest a shameful distraction to divert attention from CM Chandrababu Naidu’s governance failures.