Hyderabad High Court relief for call money accused No. 4

Hyderabad: Justice Raja Elango of the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to M. Satyanandam, divisional engineer in the AP Southern Discom, at Vijayawada and accused No. 4 in the call money-sexual exploitation case.

The judge directed the petitioner to furnish Rs 1 lakh personal surety and told him to appear before the investigation officer as and when required and cooperate with the investigation.

Mr P Vishnuvardhan Reddy, counsel for the petitioner, contended that his client was falsely implicated with the offence.

Urging the court to grant anticipatory bail, he said that the accused number one and seven were already arrested in the case and the petitioner being a public servant and resident of the city the question of absconding does not arise.

Mr Posani Venkateswarlu, public prosecutor of AP, submitted that the petitioner is a key accused in the case and the complainant, in her statement before the Magistrate concerned, alleged that the petitioner had indulged in sexual harassment with her.

While opposing the bail, he said the accused absconded since registration of the crime against him and granting bail to the accused will hamper the investigation as the case involves huge ramifications.