File photo of Talasani Srinivas Yadav (left) with his other cabinet colleagues in the Bharat Rashtra Samithi government.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
Several official documents, data and digital devices were destroyed or stolen from the office of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Masab Tank, allegedly by the very occupants of the office from the erstwhile Bharat Rashtra Samithi government, here on Friday.
The prime accused, according to the FIR registered by the police based on the office watchman’s complaint on Saturday, is Kalyan Kumar, Officer on Special Duty to Minister of Animal Husbandry Talasani Srinivas Yadav. The four other accused persons are his computer operators Elijah and Mohan and attenders Venkatesh and Prasanth.
The incident came to light after 51-year-old watchman Mandala Laxmaiah, while checking the premises before closing, observed suspicious activity.
The lock to the OSD’s office room was open, documents were thrown all over the floor, and visibly the digital network hub and the CCTVs were tampered with.
As per Mr. Laxmaiah’s verification, the police noted, the accused persons now — Kalyan Kumar, Mohan, Elijah, Venkatesh and Prasanth — were on the premises and in the office on the day of the incident at around 5.30 p.m. He suspected that they might have stolen valuable documents from the office.
The Nampally police’s preliminary investigation showed that “many papers were found in torn condition, all dumped in polyethylene bags, and the room was totally in disturbed condition. Some of the cameras were found broken and hanging on walls, and the cables of the DVR were also found detached, and they should be verified with the help of a technician.”
Police said Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry Ram Chandar was contacted several times, but he has remained unresponsive.
The police booked the accused persons under provision of IPC for S. 409 (Criminal breach of trust), S. 427 (Mischief causing damage), S. 448 (house trespass), S. 477 (Fraudulent cancellation, destruction of valuable security), S. 109 r/w 34 (Abetment). An investigation was opened.
