Hyderabad: Renowned multilingual actor Sarath Babu, who had been battling a severe illness, passed away on Monday afternoon at a private hospital in Hyderabad. His family members informed the media about his demise.

Sarat Babu's health had started deteriorating in the first week of April, leading to his admission to a private hospital in Bengaluru. Despite showing slight signs of recovery, he was later transferred to the 'AIG' hospital in Hyderabad, where the treatment continued. Regrettably, the 71-year-old veteran actor succumbed to his illness on Monday afternoon, as the treatment proved unsuccessful.

Sarath Babu, who entered the silver screen with the Telugu film 'Rama Rajyam' released in 1973, acted in more than 200 films in a film journey spanning 4 decades. He was recognized not only in Telugu but also in Kannada and Tamil cinema. His performances in movies like 'Shakti,' 'Ranachandi,' 'Kampana,' 'Gaya,' 'Tulsi Dal,' 'Hridaya-Hridaya,' 'Neela,' 'Nammejamanu,' and 'Amrita Varshini' garnered him immense popularity in the Kannada film industry.

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Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.

The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.

"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.

Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.

He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.

Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.

The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.

Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.

He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.