Rao Vinod Kumar @ Satish @ Ashish, v. The State Of Telangana, Through Ps Ccs, Team V

IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA

AT HYDERABAD THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.2545 OF 2026 DATE : 06.03.2026 Between :

Rao Vinod Kumar ...

Petitioner/A.9 And The State of Telangana, Through PS CCs, Team V, Rep., by its Public Prosecutor, High Court for the State of Telangana, At Hyderabad ... Respondent : ORDER :

This Criminal Petition is filed praying this Court to enlarge the petitioner on bail who is arrayed as accused No.9 in Crime No.67 of 2025 of INSP, AMIN (DD), Hyderabad. The offences alleged against the petitioner are under Sections 61 (2), 316(2), 318(4), 319, 337 340(2), 341 and 238 r/w.3(5) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

2.

The brief facts of the case are that on 13.05.2025 at about 20:00 hours, Sri U. Raghu Ram Sharma, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Hon'ble Minister for Information Technology, Electronics & Communications, Industries & Commerce, and Legislative Affairs, Government of Telangana, lodged a complaint at Saifabad Police Station stating that on 10.05.2025 he received a WhatsApp message from one Mr. Amarnath enclosing a copy of a letter purportedly issued under his authority on the official letterhead of the Hon'ble Minister's Office and bearing his forged signature. Upon verification, he found that the letter, shown as Lr. No. 4145/OSD/M/(ITE&C, I&C and LA) dated 02.04.2025, allegedly recommending consideration of a Cyber Security Operations project proposal in favour of one Mr.

Bhavik Patel of Sattrix Information Security Limited, Ahmedabad, was fabricated. He stated that no such letter was issued from his office on that date, that the letter number had previously been used for an unrelated communication, that the office had revised its official letterhead format from 26.03.2025 onwards, and that the numbering sequence on the said date did not correspond with the forged document. He alleged that Mr. Oduri V.V.

integrity of the Minister's Office. Based on the complaint, a case in Crime No.140/2025 was registered for the above offences and subsequently transferred to CCS, DD Hyderabad and registered as Cr.No.67 of 2025 for further investigation. 3.

Heard Sri S.Surender Reddy, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner and Sri M.Ramachandra Reddy, learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing on behalf of the respondent - State.

4.

The contention of learned counsel for the petitioner is that petitioner is innocent of the said allegations and he is not involved in any crime. Petitioner is falsely implicated in this case and he has no criminal antecedents, he is a software Engineer working in Everest Ds, Cyber Towers, Madhapur, Hyderabad. Petitioner is falsely implicated in this case with all concocted and invented story by the complainant. Learned counsel further contended that A.1 in this crime has already filed quash petition vide Crl.P.No.8053 of 2025 to quash the said crime and this Court disposed of the said petition directing the police to issue Section 35(3) of BNSS notice. Hence, prayed this Court to grant regular bail to the petitioner. 5.

On the other hand, learned Additional Public Prosecutor vehemently opposed bail contending that the petitioner/A.9 is

closely associated with the main accused and, along with A.1, A.2 and A.5, formed a criminal gang to commit offences such as cheating, forgery, fabrication of government documents, impersonation and criminal conspiracy. He further alleged that the co-accused arranged clothes and shoes for A.9 to pose as the IT Head of Telangana at the Secretariat. In furtherance of the conspiracy, A.9 falsely represented himself as "Ashish, IT Head of Telangana State" and misled victims by promising them a Cyber Security Operations Centre project. By using forged signatures of the OSD to the IT Minister, fake rubber stamps and fabricated official documents, the accused induced victims, including Bhavik Maheshbhai Patel and others, to believe that a project worth Rs.97.52 crores had been awarded and collected a commission of Rs.1,57,40,000/-.

It is further submitted that the Test Identification Parade of A.9 is pending and, if he is released on bail, he may hamper the same, tamper with evidence, influence witnesses or threaten persons connected with the case. The prosecution also contended that his custody is necessary for proper investigation and to apprehend the remaining accused. It is lastly submitted that the petitioner has already filed bail petitions before the trial Court, one of which is still pending, and despite that, he has filed this application Hence, prayed to dismiss this petition.

6.

Considering the submissions made by both the counsel and the material on record the petitioner is in jail from 31.01.2026 and as seen from the record, Lws.1 to 21 are examined except Test Identification Parade scheduled on 28.02.2026. Considering the progress in investigation and also the period of incarceration of petitioner in jail, this Court is inclined to grant bail to the petitioner subject to the following conditions :

i. The petitioner/A.9 shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only) with two sureties for a like sum each to the satisfaction of the XII-Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate at Hyderabad.

ii. The petitioner/A.9 shall appear before the concerned SHO between 09.00 a.m and 5.00 p.m., on every Wednesday for a period of eight (8) weeks or till filing of charge sheet whichever is earlier, for the purpose of investigation, and thereafter, as and when required.

iii. The petitioner/A.9 shall abide by the conditions stipulated in Section 483(2) of the BNSS.

7.

Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is allowed. Miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall stand closed.

_______________ K. SUJANA, J Date: 06.03.2026 Rds

THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.2545 OF 2026 Date: 06.03.2026 Rds