In an unprecedented decision, Hyderabad Police Commissioner K Sreenivasa Reddy on Wednesday transferred 85 police personnel from the Panjagutta police station a month after the son of an ex-BRS MLA, who had crashed his luxury car on the road divider in Begumpet, was allowed to escape and another person implicated in his place.

Station House Officer B Durga Rao, who facilitated the escape of Raheel Amir, the son of ex-MLA of Bodhan Mohammad Shakil, was placed under suspension earlier. Raheel Amir is now absconding. All the staff who were transferred from the Panjagutta police station have been asked to report to the City Armed Reserve (CAR) police headquarters and have been replaced by personnel from other police stations in the city.

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The Union Home Ministry had adjudged the Panjagutta police station the second-best police station some years ago for its speedy disposal of cases with the help of technology and smooth public services. The police station has jurisdiction over some key areas in the heart of the city, including the newly christened Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Praja Bhavan which used to be the camp office-cum-residence of former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

On the night of 24 December last year, just after the new Congress government assumed office, Raheel Amir, driving in an inebriated condition crashed his car on the road divider in front of the Praja Bhavan. Police investigations have now revealed that he was brought to the police station but allowed to leave after some time, and, in his place, his driver confessed to the accident.

The now-suspended SHO had let him off after a phone call from the ex-MLA. Raheel was involved in another similar accident leading to the death of a toddler at Jubilee Hills in March 2022. Raheel has now escaped to the Gulf. He has also moved the Telangana High Court seeking to quash the FIR against him, claiming innocence.