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Bandi Bageerath, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, failed to appear before Telangana police after being summoned on May 13 in connection with a POCSO case filed against him.
On May 12, Telangana police issued a notice directing Bageerath to appear before the Pet Basheerabad police by 2 pm on May 13. He has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for alleged sexual harassment and sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl.
The FIR, registered on May 8, triggered a political storm in Telangana. With Bageerath remaining untraceable for five days and failing to respond to the summons, police teams were dispatched to Delhi and Karimnagar to trace him, Cyberabad Commissioner of Police M. Ramesh told The Hindu. Bandi Sanjay is a BJP MP representing the Karimnagar constituency.
Meanwhile, the Telangana High Court is set to hear Bageerath’s anticipatory bail petition, which was filed while he remained absconding.
A letter purportedly written by Bageerath seeking a two-day extension to appear before police was circulated on social media. However, the Commissioner reportedly said the police had not officially received any such communication.
Leaders of the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), along with several members of the public, have criticised what they describe as preferential treatment and alleged abuse of power in the handling of the case, questioning why Bageerath has not yet been arrested.
Bageerath was initially booked for assault or using criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty and sexual harassment, along with POCSO Act relating to sexual harassment, based on a complaint filed by the minor’s mother on May 8. After recording the girl’s statement, police later added the charge of aggravated sexual assault.
According to the complaint, Bageerath met the girl through mutual friends in June 2025 and allegedly sexually abused or assaulted her on at least four occasions between October and December 2025. The complaint further alleged that he displayed a pattern of “abusive conduct”, “emotional manipulation”, and “coercion” throughout their association.
On the same day the FIR was registered, Bageerath filed a counter-complaint against the girl’s family, accusing them of attempting to extort him by threatening to file false harassment cases and pressuring him to marry the girl.
Bandi Sanjay initially dismissed the allegations as a “political hit job” intended to malign him ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public meeting in Hyderabad on May 10. However, speaking at his annual Hindu Ekta Yatra in Karimnagar on May 12, he said: “My son has assured me that he has done nothing wrong and will come out clean. If my son is genuinely at fault, I will not forgive him.”