In June, the Chhattisgarh police booked IAS Sandeep Kumar for dowry harassment, unnatural sex, and domestic violence, based on his wife's complaint.
Published Aug 09, 2023 | 12:58 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 09, 2023 | 7:00 AM
Telangana IAS lodges complaint against wife and in-laws over theft, cheating and intimidation. (Supplied)
On Saturday, 5 August, Telangana cadre IAS officer Sandeep Kumar Jha lodged a complaint with the Banjara Hills police in Hyderabad against his wife and in-laws for alleged cheating, theft, and criminal intimidation.
Jha, who is posted as joint secretary with the state government’s IT, Electronics, and Communication Department, also accused his wife and her family of harassing him physically and mentally, defaming him, and threatening to implicate him under false cases.
In June this year, a court in the Korba district of Chhattisgarh reportedly issued an order to register an FIR against Jha after his wife Pallavi Jha accused him of harassment over dowry, unnatural sex, and domestic violence.
In the FIR filed by Jha, a copy of which South First accessed, the 2014-batch IAS officer stated that his wife and her family continuously harassed him since their marriage in November 2021.
He alleged that the accused blackmailed him to get their illegal building and lands regularised, or else he would face false matrimonial cases against him.
The 35-year-old also claimed in the FIR that Pallavi and her brother Pranjal stole ₹96,000 and ₹65,000 from him on two separate occasions in the past two years from his Hyderabad residence.
“Pallavi had also stolen jewellery and left my house without intimation,” Jha stated in the FIR.
When he asked her to return it, she and her family members threatened to file false cases against him and his family, Jha stated.
As per the FIR, Jha alleged that Pallavi also demanded that the IAS officer transfer his “ancestral land and properties to her name or else she would file a false harassment case against him and his family members”.
“Pallavi also threatened me and asked me to vacate my ancestral property so that she and her father can establish their business on that property,” the IAS officer said.
In the FIR, Jha also accused his wife of hitting him on the head multiple times with several objects, one of which left a permanent scar.
He added that Pallavi’s father Pramod and brother Pranjal visited his house in May last year, abused his family, and threatened to kill him and his entire family.
The episode was repeated in June 2022 when the three came with some “muscular men” and continued to threaten him with false domestic-violence cases.
Jha alleged that Pallavi wanted him to leave his parents and transfer his share of land and property to her name, after which she would have considered staying with him.
He added that in July 2022, Pallavi’s uncle Shardanand visited his parents’ residence in Laheriasarai in Darbhanga, Bihar, and suggested they get a divorce, and also threatened his family with dire consequences.
Jha said in the Hyderabad FIR that he had lodged an FIR with the Darbhanga Police in October 2022, alleging that Pallavi’s kin and their supporters attacked his parents.
After this, he filed a civil case seeking “dissolution of marriage” in the Darbhanga court last year.
Speaking to South First over the phone from Kolkata, Shardanand refuted the allegations.
“This is all wrong. We went to his house to talk about divorce and end the matter. This was because Pallavi was tortured a lot and did not want to stay with him. Jha and his family said that they wanted time to think, but then they started making excuses,” he said.
Shardanand added that in January 2023, he went alone to Jha’s Banjara Hills house in another attempt to settle the matter.
“Due to the relations the families shared, as his uncle used to teach my son, I thought I would try talking to him myself. But his parents did not let me enter the house,” he said.
The Banjara Hills police have registered an FIR against Pallavi, Pranjal, and Pramod under Sections 379 (theft), 506 (criminal intimidation), 182 (false information with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power), 504 (intentionally insult someone), 420 (cheating), 323 (voluntarily hurt), 389 (putting person in fear of accusation of offence in order to commit extortion), and 120 B (party to criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
After the local court’s order in Korba in June, a case against Jha was reportedly registered at the Civil Lines Police Station in the Rampur area, slapping him with dowry harassment, unnatural sex, and other charges.
In her complaint, Pallavi reportedly alleged that she was continuously harassed by her husband for dowry, and that he demanded huge cash amounts and gold and silver jewellery at the time of marriage.
She also accused Jha of domestic violence and having unnatural sex with her.
She also alleged that Jha and his family also took branded clothes, a fridge, a washing machine, a TV, and furniture as dowry, for which her family bore an expenditure of over ₹1 crore.
South First has reached out to Jha. This report will be updated when a response is received.
