Police and media personnel waiting outside Pet Basheerabad police station on May 16, 2026. Photo: Arrangement
After a week-long manhunt, Bandi Bageerath, son of State Home Minister Bandi Sanjay, was arrested by the Cyberabad police on Saturday (May 16, 2026) night in connection with a Child Sexual Offenses Act case registered against him at the Petbasheerabad police station.
According to Cyberbad Police Commissioner M Ramesh, he was nabbed at TGPA junction around 8 pm and was taken to Narsingi police station first. He was later shifted to Petbasheerbad for post-arrest formalities.
He was taken into judicial custody and lodged in Cherlapally jail.
The accused remained untraceable as the case was registered on May 8 following a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl who accused him of sexually assaulting and emotionally manipulating her daughter over a period of several months.
The arrest came a day after the Telangana High Court rejected his anticipatory bail application. Acting on a court order, the Cyberabad police intensified efforts to track him down by deploying five special teams, conducting searches at residences linked to him in Hyderabad and Karimnagar and issuing a circular to prevent him from leaving the country.
Earlier in the day, Cyberabad Police teams conducted searches at Maitri’s Banjara Hills residence and Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s residence in Karimnagar, while surveillance and technical teams analyzed location coordinates, digital traces and other electronic data associated with his whereabouts.
The accused failed to turn up at the police station despite notices served and asked for two more days after he failed to turn up on May 13.
Published – 16 May 2026 21:22 IST
