CBI JD transferred

• Lakshminarayanato go back to Maharashtra
• CBI JD, Chennai, S Arunachalam new in-charge

Hyderabad: CBI Joint Director V V Lakshminarayana, who has been spearheading high-profile cases including that of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's disproportionate assets case in the State, was transferred on Friday. He will go back to his parent cadre Maharashtra. CBI Joint Director of Chennai, S Arunachalam would be holding additional charge as CBI JD of Hyderabad until a new man is appointed.

Lakshminarayana created waves by heading the teams that arrested rich and mighty people in the last two years in different cases. He has been in the news for swift investigation and operations. His teams arrested former Karnataka Minister and mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy and his associates apart from IAS officer Y Srilakshmi in the illegal mining case, while another IAS officers B P Acharya was arrested in the Emaar-APIIC land scam.

Another important arrest made by Lakshminarayana's team has been that of the Jagan in the disproportionate assets case registered against him. However, Lakshminarayana sent shock waves after his team detected cash-for-bail scam involving sitting judges. Subsequently, the intelligence collected by the CBI team allowed ACB to arrest three sitting judges, two legislators and some private

persons. He was also in the thick of controversy after his cell phone call data record was leaked. On the strength of the call data records, his detractors leveled allegations saying the JD was in touch with some opposition party leaders and taking instructions from them on how to go about in Jagan's case. However, the controversy subsided after state police arrested some persons remotely linked to Jagan for their involvement in securing the call data through illegal means. Lakshminarayana, the 1990 batch IPS officer, is well known for his stint as Superintendent of Police of Nanded in Maharashtra.

Subsequently, he worked in the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and opted to work for CBI on deputation. He received his Indian Police Medal in 2006. A low-profile officer, he was posted as DIG in Hyderabad on June 12, 2006. He was posted to head the local CBI unit for 5 years. But his tenure was extended for two more years in view of the investigation into high-profile cases.

Lakshminarayana is known to be very good at handling legal issues, especially documentation. The documents seized during investigations headed by him run into thousands of pages. Apart from the illegal mining scam, Jagan's disproportionate assets case and Emaar-APIIC land scam, Lakshminarayana headed investigations in several other high-profile cases such as Satyam fraud, Volks Wagen, Railway Recruitment scam and part of Paritala Ravi murder probe.

He has also undertaken a research project "Modalities for compensation to the victims of crime in the light of position prevailing in other countries so as to make it part of the criminal jurisprudence in our country." This project is sponsored by the Bureau of Police Research and Development, New Delhi.

Born and brought up in Srisailam in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, Lakshminarayana is the son of a retired government engineer. After schooling, he joined the Regional Engineering College in Warangal to complete his BE in mechanical engineering. He then appeared for civil services exam and opted for IPS and was allotted the Maharashtra cadre. During his stint here he was also taking his time off to attend functions in schools to speak to the children on moral and social issues, a la former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

During his busy stint in Hyderabad, he was taking his time off often to attend functions in schools to speak to children on moral and social issues