Hyderabad: A day after being relieved from the government service on voluntary retirement, ex-IPS officer Dr RS Praveen Kumar landed in a criminal case in Karimnagar district for his alleged pledge against Hindu gods in March this year.
Acting on a complaint filed by local advocate Bethi Mahender Reddy, Karimnagar munsif magistrate court on Wednesday issued orders to the Town III police to register a criminal case against RS Praveen Kumar.
The advocate alleged that the retired IPS officer had taken part in a programme in Peddapalli district in March this year, in which he had taken a pledge which degraded Hindu gods and goddesses.
Praveen Kumar, the 1995-batch IPS officer, had been the secretary of Telangana Social Welfare Residential School Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS) for nine years. He relinquished his service on Monday by seeking voluntary retirement, six years in advance.
The Telangana government approved his request for voluntary retirement and relieved him immediately on Tuesday.
In March, a video of Praveen Kumar taking an oath against the Hindu gods at a programme went viral in the social media. The programme – Buddha Vandanam – was organised as part of ‘Swaero Holy Month’ (March 15 to April 14) at the famous Buddhist shrine at Dhulikatta in Peddapalli district.
After the controversy erupted, evoking protests from Hindu groups including Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Praveen Kumar gave a clarification stating that he had nothing to do with the oath.
“One local Buddhist family went on to the stage and recited Buddha Vandanam and they went on to recite the oath reportedly taken by Dr B.R. Ambedkar on the day of his conversion to Buddhism,” the IPS officer said in a statement.
He clarified that the Swaero network has people of all religious beliefs and they take the best from all religions and don’t teach any prejudice against any religion, both at homes and in workplaces and celebrate all festivals.