Former Andhra Pradesh minister Bhuma Akhila Priya arrested in a kidnapping case | FIFA Club World Cup

In association with the dramatic abduction of three businessmen, Sunil Rao, Praveen Rao and Naveen Rao, all of the siblings, in Hyderabad, former Andhra Pradesh Tourism Minister Bhuma Akhila Priya was arrested on Wednesday. Three of them were whisked away from their residence on Tuesday night by a kidnapper group posed as Income Tax officials after detaining other family members in another room. According to the police, the TDP chief is believed to have plotted and executed the abduction.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar, speaking to the media, said that soon after receiving information about the crime, the police initiated a hunt for the kidnappers. Special teams were formed, and on all important roads, check-posts were erected. After realizing that they can't escape, at around 3.30 am Wednesday, the kidnappers released the three brothers near Narsingi (on the city's outskirts). They were traced and rescued when they switched on their cell phones," he said.

According to family members, ten to fifteen people barged into their home at about 7.20 pm on Tuesday. They produced a search warrant, dressed in civil clothes and one of them in police uniform, saying they are from the income tax department. They searched the house and detained all the family members in one room, while they made the three brothers sit in the living room. An hour or so later, after returning home to find the main door latched from the outside by one of the family members, the rest of them discovered that the trio had been abducted.

Family members suspected AV Subba Reddy, Bhuma Akhila Priya, and Bhargava Ram, their relatives, in the abduction. Bowenpally police have reported charges of impersonation, wrongful detention, wrongful imprisonment, house violation, criminal harassment, and kidnapping, among others, cheating.

Police discovered that the incident on Wednesday resulted from a dispute dating back to 2016, when Praveen, also a former national badminton player, bought a 25-acre property in Hafeezpet. Together with Bhuma Nagi Reddy, AV Subba Reddy, the prime accused in the kidnap case now, had mediated to solve some problems over the land contract. Subba Reddy did not fulfil his understanding with Nagi Reddy, while Praveen and Subba Reddy reached an agreement. After Nagi Reddy's death, Akhila Priya's daughter approached Praveen for a share of the estate.

According to the police, when he directed her to Subba Reddy, Akhila Priya began threatening Praveen with dire consequences. It was to arrive at a land settlement that Akhila Priya and her husband, with the help of their henchmen, had hatched the abduction of Praveen, Naveen, and Sunil, police said. The police have arrested some suspects, and a search is on for all the defendants who are absconding. Further investigations are underway.