Why did Jagan choose this cop as SIT head?

The Telugu Desam Party leaders are putting up a brave front over the constitution of a 10-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the various acts of omission and commission by the previous Chandrababu Naidu government, particularly into the allegations of insider trading in Amaravati.

But, heart in hearts, the TDP leaders are said to be panicky. Reason is not the constitution of the SIT as such, but the person who is heading the team – Senior IPS officer Dr Kolli Raghuram Reddy, a deputy inspector general rank officer heading the state intelligence department.

Apparently, chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has cherry-picked this IPS officer, not just because he is a Reddy (as is being alleged by the TDP leaders), but also because of his track record in the past.

This 2006-batch IPS officer from Kakinada, who had studied MBBS from Osmania Medical College, had turned out to be a tough nut to crack for then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu before 2014. Readmore!

He was serving as superintendent of police in Kurnool, when he allegedly created troubles for the TDP leaders.

In fact, Naidu openly alleged that Raghuram Reddy was supporting the YSR Congress party and even made a statement that if Reddy was so supportive of Jagan Mohan Reddy, he should quit his post and contest the elections on YSRC ticket.

Following a complaint from Naidu, the then government shifted Reddy to Prakasam district, but the IPS officer managed to get back to Kurnool after approaching the Central Administrative Tribunal. Even former minister and then TDP leader T G Venkatesh attributed his loss in the elections to Raghuram Reddy.

After Naidu came to power in the divided AP, this IPS officer refused to work in the Naidu regime and opted for Central deputation. He returned to AP in September 2019, only after the YSRC came to power and Jagan became the chief minister.

During his tenure, Raghuram Reddy proved to be a strong and upright officer, who had brought to light several Ponzi schemes like Amway International, N Mart multi-level marketing scam, Nakshtra and Akshaya Gold etc.

Because of this strong track report, Jagan preferred Raghuram Reddy to investigate into the alleged irregularities of the Naidu regime.

Let us see, how far this officer will succeed in his mission and whether he will be able to throw Naidu behind the bars!