Two Anantapur inspectors allegedly spent months helping a five-woman blackmail gang squeeze around Rs 1 crore out of roughly 20 victims — one of whom killed himself after paying Rs 25 lakh. The state's answer was not arrest, not suspension, not transfer, but 'forced voluntary retirement', which is exactly what it sounds like.
On April 18, a 24-year-old Bengaluru resident filed a complaint in Anantapur that unravelled a honey-trap extortion ring run by prime accused Mamillapalli Rangamma and four other women. The gang used dating apps and messaging platforms to lure retirees, businessmen, priests and mid-level officials, secretly recorded compromising video, and then demanded between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 25 lakh per victim — with one victim reportedly taking his own life after paying up. Police have arrested five, seized Rs 13 lakh in cash, two knives and a paper trail pointing to more than Rs 1 crore in extortion from around 20 victims. The two inspectors allegedly on the gang's payroll — Sri Harsha of Three Town station and Rajendranath Yadav of Rapthadu — were not arrested, suspended, or charged; they were 'forced to take voluntary retirement', allowed to walk off with their pensions and their record officially undisturbed.