Former minister and Telugu Desam Party leader Bhuma Akhila Priya and her husband Bhargav Ram were arrested by Bowenpally police in Hyderabad on Wednesday afternoon in connection with the kidnap of three persons, supposedly related to Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao late on Tuesday night.
The police had already arrested Bhargav Ram’s brother Chandrahas in the early hours of Wednesday in connection with the kidnap.
The police went to Akhila’s residence in the morning and took her and her husband into custody for questioning and later arrested them formally.
According to the police, Chandrahas along with another 14-15 people went to the residence of Praveen Rao, former India hockey player, who has been living with his two brothers Sunil Rao and Naveen Rao at Manovikas Nagar in Bowenpally, under the guise of Income Tax department authorities. The three brothers are said to be closely related to KCR’s sister.
After informing the family members that they came to conduct a search, the 15-member team separated Praveen Rao, his brothers, Naveen Rao and Sunil Rao from the rest of the family, task force police said. Later, they drove away with the three brothers in three separate vehicles.
The family members approached the police at around 10 pm. Police immediately formed search parties and verified CCTV footage near Praveen's house. The kidnappers also snatched laptops and mobile phones from them. Some valuables in the house were also stolen.
Police in the city were then alerted. It was during this sequence that the kidnappers chased the vehicles and intercepted the cars at Ramgopalpet. All three have been arrested and are being investigated.
The family members of Praveen Rao suspected the role of Bhuma Akhil Priya and her husband Bhargav’s family, who are from Allagadda in Kurnool district are behind the kidnapping.
The three-- former hockey player Praveen Rao and his brothers Sunil Rao and Naveen Rao, were later rescued by the police task force near Vikarabad on Wednesday morning.