andhra-pradesh

Updated: Dec 15, 2019 12:49 IST

The home ministry has suspended the appointment of a trainee Indian Police Service (IPS) officer after it came to light that he was under investigation for allegedly threatening to divorce his wife soon after his selection.

K V Maheshwar Reddy, 28, a native of Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh, secured 126th rank in the Civil Services Examination this year. He was booked for harassment, criminal intimidation and atrocity against a member of the SC, ST community in October this year on a police complaint by his wife, Birudula Bhavani (28), a Dalit employee working for the Indian Railways in Secunderabad.

After the case was filed against Reddy, the matter was escalated to the home ministry by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)--that conducts the civil services examination—along with the national police academy in Hyderabad and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.

Police said Reddy and Bhavani got married on February 9, 2018, as per their marriage certificate but Reddy started having second thoughts soon after clearing the civil services examination.

Bhavani said Reddy had kept their marriage a secret from his family and wanted to marry another woman who could match his “newly found status as a trainee IPS officer”.

“He used to dodge the issue whenever I asked him to tell his parents about the marriage. After he got selected to the IPS, he revealed that his parents were scouting marriage alliances for him and I was shocked,” Bhavani said.

Bhavani said she approached the police when Reddy started threatening her with dire consequences if she revealed he was married to her.

The police tried to counsel Reddy but he refused to accept her as wife and insisted on divorce, said Bhavani.

Reddy did not take calls or respond to the text messages.

Bhavani said she was confident of getting justice from the government.

The notice of suspension from the home ministry says Reddy’s appointment will be reviewed if and when he is cleared in the case.