Former Intelligence Chief Venkateswara Rao writes to AP govt. urges to pay full salary as his suspension ended

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief of Intelligence, IPS officer AB Venkateswara Rao said that the Andhra Pradesh government does not have the power to continue him in suspension further. To this end, he wrote a letter to the Chief Secretary to the Government, Sameer Sharma stating that the suspension ended on February 8, 2022 and is automatically lifted as a rule after two years.

In the letter, AB Venkateswara Rao said that the extension of the suspension of six months would expire on January 27 and opined that the Central Home Ministry's approval is mandatory for suspension exceeding more than two years. He said it was over as permission was not sought from the Union Ministry within the deadline and asked the government to pay his full salary as per the service rules.

The former chief of intelligence asserted that his suspension was last extended on 31.7.2021 and the GO was kept secret. He said he had not received no copy from the state government. It remains to be seen how the government will respond to this letter.

AB Venkateswara Rao, a member of the 1989 AP IPS cadre, was formerly the Chief of Intelligence. The YSRCP has complained against Venkateswara Rao for working in favour of Chandrababu during the 2019 elections. He was removed from the post of Chief of Intelligence by the Election Commission before the last election.He was suspended as he had allegedly bought surveillance equipment from an Israel company against the rules.