Published Jul 21, 2026 | 9:30 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 21, 2026 | 1:24 PM
The AP police's finding that Kadambari Jethwani was guilty of extortion places them in an embarrassing situation. (Handout image)
Synopsis: AP police’s own chargesheet against Mumbai-based actress Kadambari Jethwani destroys its case against suspended IPS officers. It also raises the bigger question of what could happen if the suspended officers move court now.
The reputation of Andhra Pradesh police is going to tatters with each new episode.
The latest chargesheet filed by the police in a case where five police officers, three of them from the IPS, were placed under suspension by the Chandrababu Naidu government has effectively nullified the narrative built against the officers.
The case revolves around Mumbai-based actress Kadambari Jethwani, who was accused by the AP police in February 2024 of blackmailing and extorting money from a YSR Congress functionary, K Vidyasagar, based on a complaint given by the latter. She was arrested, granted bail after some time and returned to Mumbai later.
June of that year saw a change of government with the Telugu Desam-led alliance forming the government. Jethwani returned to Vijayawada in August, allegedly on the suggestion of those in power, and lodged a complaint that she was harassed and intimidated by five officers based on a false complaint.
Trial by media began soon after with mainstream channels in favour of Telugu Desam airing stories and running debates on how the previous YSRC government victimised a woman. They did not stop at that.
In their anxiety to build a strong case, the media channels also dragged industrialist Sajjan Jindal into it, alleging that the YSRC government arrested the actress at the instance of Jindal, who was also said to have been blackmailed by Jethwani at some point in the past.
In September 2024, the police filed a fresh case against three senior IPS officers—PSR Anjaneyulu, Kranti Rana Tata and Vishal Gunni—accusing them of threatening and torturing Jethwani. Two others, an officer of the rank of Assistant Commissioner and a Circle Inspector, were also named in the FIR. All five were placed under suspension.
The suspended officers, except one, later went to the High Court challenging the case against them and secured anticipatory bail. The court stayed further investigation in the matter, but the government has been extending the suspension of officers through periodic orders. PSR Anjaneyulu refused to approach the court and spent a few months in jail before he was freed.
Now comes the twist.
In the first case filed during the YSRC regime against Jethwani, the CID wing of the AP police has now filed a chargesheet in the court confirming the allegations of blackmail and extortion by the actress.
According to the chargesheet, Jethwani first met Vidyasagar in November 2009 at a social meet in Hyderabad. She gradually developed familiarity with Vidyasagar and gained his confidence.
Subsequently, Jethwani created “compromising circumstances” by taking explicit and intimate photographs with Vidyasagar. She then began handing out threats of circulating the photographs and filing false cases of rape while demanding big sums of hush-up money at varying times.
On one occasion, in May 2013, the actress forcibly entered the hotel room where Vidyasagar was staying in Mumbai and demanded money. Upon his refusal, she threatened to file a rape case. Vidyasagar then paid her Rs 1 lakh by way of a cheque (dated 14.05. 2013) and Rs 50000 through bank transfer later.
Over time, the police found bank records showing that Vidyasagar had transferred Rs 4.98 lakh to the actress. Between September and November 2023, Jethwani escalated the acts of extortion and collected Rs 1 crore. That was when Vidyasagar filed a complaint with the police, based on which she was arrested on February 3, 2024 and released on bail on March 12, 2024.
“On the basis of material collected during investigation, it is found that Jethwani committed the offence of extortion by putting the complainant (Vidyasagar) in fear of injury and dishonestly induced him to deliver money,” the chargesheet said.
The big question is where the case filed by the AP police against its own officers stands now, as the chargesheet confirms that the fault lies with Jethwani and not others.
Having run serial stories in television channels involving multiple characters with money, sex, threats and police officers playing key roles, where will the higher-ups of AP police hide their faces now?
Reports that emerged back when Jethwani was first arrested suggested that the police acted against her because of unofficial complaints by Sajjan Jindal, apart from the official complaint lodged by Vidyasagar. Jindal was back in the news when police officers turned victims after the change of government.
The government of the day has perhaps not realised the implications of what they were doing in their anxiety to go after IPS officers who were seen as loyalists of previous Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
By then, Jindal had lined up massive investments in Andhra Pradesh, including a steel plant in Kadapa, and was reportedly upset with the undesirable media coverage he was getting because of the government’s actions. With Jethwani now being nailed, the issue is closed.
But what happens if the suspended police officers approach the High Court accusing the government and those heading the police force of “victimising” them by registering a case against them and suspending them from service?
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(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
