Archive · 12 Sep 2026
Minister Denies Arrested Men Were Part of Peshi
Two people were arrested in a case involving an alleged bribe from someone seeking help from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
A government minister, Ponnam Prabhakar, said the arrested people did not work in his office.
His Officer on Special Duty also said they had no connection to the minister’s peshi, or office staff.
The newspaper’s headline had called them staffers from the minister’s peshi.
The newspaper admitted that the headline was wrong.
However, it said its report was accurate because one person was an outsourcing employee and the other worked for an industrial development corporation.
The disagreement is about whether the arrested people were connected to the minister’s office.
The arrests themselves were made by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar denied that two ACB-arrested men were part of his peshi.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested the men for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe from a Chief Minister’s Relief Fund beneficiary.
The minister’s Officer on Special Duty, Puli Saidulu, said the men had no connection with the minister’s peshi.
The original report described one man as an outsourcing employee and the other as working for an industrial development corporation.
The newspaper acknowledged an error in the headline but said it stood by the substance of its report.
- Who
- Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, his Officer on Special Duty Puli Saidulu, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and two arrested men.
- What
- The minister denied that two men arrested in a bribe case were part of his peshi.
- When
- The denial and rejoinder were issued on Friday, following a report published that day.
- Where
- Hyderabad.
- Why
- The denial followed a report claiming that two of the minister’s peshi staffers had been arrested over a Chief Minister’s Relief Fund bribe.
Minister’s Office
Newspaper Report
Connection to the minister’s peshi
Minister’s Office
Ponnam Prabhakar and his Officer on Special Duty said the two arrested men had no connection whatsoever with the minister’s peshi.
Newspaper Report
The report’s headline described the men as the minister’s peshi staffers, although the newspaper later acknowledged that wording was erroneous.
Description of the arrested men
Minister’s Office
The minister’s office rejected the claim that the arrested men belonged to his peshi.
Newspaper Report
The newspaper said its report identified one man as an outsourcing employee and the other as an employee of an industrial development corporation, and stood by the report’s substance.
- Minister
- Ponnam Prabhakar, Telangana’s Transport and BC Welfare Minister
- Investigating agency
- Anti-Corruption Bureau
- Alleged offense
- Demanding and accepting a bribe from a Chief Minister’s Relief Fund beneficiary
- Minister’s response
- He denied that the arrested men were part of his peshi
- Official issuing rejoinder
- Puli Saidulu, the minister’s Officer on Special Duty
- Newspaper clarification
- The headline was acknowledged as erroneous, while the report’s substance was defended
- Reported employment details
- One arrested person was described as an outsourcing employee and the other as working in an industrial development corporation