Karnataka police officer D Roopa is facing a Rs 20-crore defamation suit from her senior HN Sathyanarayana Rao after claiming that he had been bribed to allow All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader VK Sasikala to get special facilities in Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara jail, NDTV reported on Tuesday.

In July, D Roopa, who was then the deputy inspector general of police posted in the prisons department, had said in a report that Sasikala – serving a four-year jail term for corruption – had paid for perks, including an exclusive kitchen and relaxed visiting hours.

Roopa had also referred to “rumours” that one of the people bribed was her senior Rao. “There were rumours that Rs 2 crore was paid for this [Sasikala’s privileges] and unfortunately the allegation is against you,” Roopa had said in the report that she handed to Rao.

Rao, who retired as director general of police in August, filed the defamation case this week, months after demanding that Roopa should apologise for making “baseless allegations”. Rao said Roopa’s allegations were false and caused “severe damage to his name, fame and integrity”. He had asked Roopa to get the apology published in all leading newspapers within three days.

After the report, both Rao and Roopa were transferred out of the prisons department. Rao was asked to go on leave while the Karnataka government moved Roopa to the traffic department, NDTV reported. Roopa has refused to retract her allegations.