ACB arrests Mir Chowk police inspector and home guard in Rs 3 lakh bribe trap

Anti-Corruption Bureau officials arrested a home guard in Hyderabad’s Mir Chowk area after he was caught accepting Rs 3 lakh in bribe money, and they have also arrested the police circle inspector he allegedly worked for. The inspector, Kondal Rao, is accused of directing the bribe.

The home guard, Abid Ali, was caught red-handed while taking the Rs 3 lakh. According to the ACB, he told investigators that he accepted the money on the orders of Circle Inspector Kondal Rao. Both men were arrested and later produced before the Nampally court.

The home guard told ACB officials that he took the money on the orders of CI Kondal Rao.

How the demand allegedly started

According to reports based on police and ACB sources, the trouble began with a civil dispute over a plot of land in the Old City. The inspector allegedly stepped into the matter and offered to settle it in the complainant’s favour.

The demand, sources say, was steep from the start. The inspector allegedly asked the complainant for as much as Rs 10 lakh to resolve the dispute. The complainant said he could not pay that amount.

After negotiations, the two sides reportedly settled on Rs 6 lakh. As part of that deal, the complainant was directed to pay Rs 3 lakh first. That first instalment is the money the home guard was caught taking.

A separate case closure allegation

Separately, the inspector has also been accused of demanding a bribe to close a case. The reports do not provide further details of that allegation, and it remains an accusation that has surfaced alongside the arrest.

Why the victim went to ACB

Reports say the complainant reached the end of his patience with the pressure. Unable to keep up with the repeated demands, he approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau instead of paying. That decision set up the trap that led to the arrest of the home guard.

The complainant’s decision to go to ACB is what put the case in motion. Without that step, the money would have been handed over and the demands would have continued.

Search at Mir Chowk police station

After the arrests, ACB teams carried out extensive searches at the Mir Chowk police station in the Old City. Officials have not publicly released the results of those searches in the reports available so far.

The searches at a police station are a rare and visible step. They signal that investigators are looking beyond the two people caught on camera and examining how the case was handled inside the station.

Why this matters for Hyderabad and Telangana

This case is not happening in a distant district. It is in the heart of Hyderabad, the state capital of Telangana, and it involves the very officers who are meant to protect the public. A civilian who needed help with a property dispute ended up facing a police inspector’s demand for lakhs of rupees.

For residents of the Old City and across Telangana, the case raises a direct question. When a dispute goes to the police, who is it really working for? The arrest suggests that at least one complainant decided not to stay silent.

What happens next

The ACB has registered a case, and the accused are expected to be presented before the ACB special court. Investigators are likely to examine the inspector’s role in the civil dispute, the terms of the Rs 6 lakh deal, and the separate allegation involving the closure of a case.

The reports so far rely on police and ACB sources and on the home guard’s statement. Those accounts have not been tested in court. The allegations against Kondal Rao and Abid Ali remain allegations until the legal process runs its course.

Still, the arrests send a message that is hard to ignore. A police inspector and a home guard were allegedly caught in the middle of a bribe that was agreed in stages, and the complainant chose to go to ACB rather than keep paying. That choice is now at the centre of a case that has shaken the Old City and drawn wide public attention.