The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Andhra Pradesh Police on Thursday questioned a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) Bihar Cadre officer M Sunil Naik in connection with the alleged custodial assault case involving former Narasapuram MP and current Assembly Deputy Speaker K Raghu Ramakrishnam Raju in May 2021, people familiar with the matter said.
Naik, who is currently Inspector General of Fire and Home Guard Services in Bihar, appeared at the Central Crime Police Station in Guntur, where a team of CID officials, led by Vizianagaram Superintendent of Police, Damodar, who is the investigating officer in the case, interrogated him for about seven hours, police said.
Investigators have sought clarifications from Sunil Naik regarding the circumstances under which the alleged custodial harassment occurred. “However, Naik gave only partial or evasive answers during interrogation,” an officer linked to the investigation said.
As directed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Sunil Naik will be interrogated between March 5 and 9 in connection with the case.
Raju was arrested in May 2021 from his residence in Hyderabad and was taken to the CID regional office in Guntur, where he reportedly remained overnight.
According to police, Sunil Naik – who was then CID director – visited the CID regional office several times on the night of Raju’s arrest. Based on these findings, investigators listed Naik as the seventh accused in the case.
Although several notices were issued earlier directing him to appear for questioning, Naik failed to comply. The police even arrested him in Patna, Bihar, but could not bring him to Andhra Pradesh due to lack of a transit order.
Naik then approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court seeking anticipatory bail. The court ordered him to appear before the investigating officer and cooperate with the investigation from March 5 to 9.
