Two Andhra cops suspended after notorious criminal escapes police custody

Vijayawada, Sep 23 Two police constables in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district were suspended on Tuesday after a notorious criminal escaped from police custody.

Armed Reserve head constables Sugunakar Rao and Fredrick were suspended by Police Commissioner S. V. Rajasekhar Babu.

Notorious criminal, Battula Prabhakar, escaped from police custody on Monday evening, when he was being escorted back to Rajamahendravaram Central Jail after a court hearing in Vijayawada.

Prabhakar, aged around 35 years, escaped the police custody near Duddukuru village in Devarapalli mandal in East Godavari district at around 7.30 p.m. while still wearing handcuffs on one hand.

The incident triggered a major alert in the district. Police have formed 10 special teams to catch the undertrial.

Prabhakar, who is an accused in several robbery cases, was dressed in a white T-shirt and black track pants.

Authorities have appealed the public to share any information regarding his whereabouts. A reward has also been announced for credible leads that will lead to his capture.

Prabhakar is a criminal wanted in connection with over 100 burglary and robbery cases across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

He was previously arrested in Visakhapatnam in 2020 and had escaped custody in March 2022 while being transported from court to jail. He was arrested again in February 2025 after a dramatic shootout with police at a pub in Hyderabad's Gachibowli.

A head constable of Cyberabad Police, who was part of the force tasked to capture the criminal, was injured.

When a police team reached the pub to arrest Prabhakar, he opened fire with a country-made weapon, injuring a head constable.

The police team, however, overpowered him. He was later brought to Andhra Pradesh.

Prabhakar's escape from police custody is the second such incident in Andhra Pradesh this month.

Two remand prisoners escaped from the Chodavaram Sub-Jail in Anakapalli district on September 5. They were captured within 24 hours.

The fugitives, Nakk Ravi Kumar and Bezawada Ramu, were arrested by the Visakhapatnam police and handed over to the Chodavaram Police.

Ravi Kumar had escaped from jail by attacking a head warder with an iron hammer in the jail kitchen.

He then stole the warder's keys and a mobile phone before unlocking the main gate.

Taking advantage of the chaos, another undertrial, Ramu, also fled.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor