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Cops move HC in TRS poaching case; audio clips intensify
The Cyberabad police on Friday moved the Telangana high court against a local court’s decision to release three men accused of attempting to poach Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) legislators even as two audio clips of purported conversations between one of the accused and an MLA surfaced on social media
The Cyberabad police on Friday moved the Telangana high court against a local court’s decision to release three men accused of attempting to poach Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) legislators even as two audio clips of purported conversations between one of the accused and an MLA surfaced on social media.
On Wednesday night, Cyberabad police said they detained Ramachandra Bharathi, Nanda Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy with a “huge amount of cash” from a farmhouse on the outskirts of Hyderabad. According to police, the three were allegedly trying to lure four TRS legislators to switch to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the bypoll to the Munugode assembly seat, scheduled for November 3.
The four MLAs are Pilot Rohit Reddy, Guvvala Balaraju, Rega Kantha Rao and B Harshavardhan Reddy.
The police booked the trio the next day and presented them before an anti-corruption bureau court for seeking judicial remand. But the court denied custody stating there was no evidence pointing to the crime and the Prevention of Corruption Act does not apply as the police failed to show any evidence about seizure of money from them.
The high court posted the case for hearing on Saturday and ordered the accused to remain in the city for the next 24 hours.It also asked them to furnish details of their stay in the city to Cyberabad police commissioner Stephen Raveendra and barred them from contacting anyone related to the case.
Meanwhile, following the directions of the ACB court, Cyberabad police also issued notices to the three accused under Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), asking them to appear before investigating officers for questioning.
The audio clips leaked on Friday were of purported conversations between Bharati and MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy. HT was not able to verify the authenticity of both clips.
In the first audio clip, which runs into 13 minutes, a man purported to be Bharathi claims he is close to top BJP leaders in Delhi and is heard negotiating with another man, purported to be MLA Reddy, for bringing more legislators along with him into the BJP before the Munugode bypoll.
The man purported to be Bharathi also assures the other man that he will arrange meetings with top rung BJP leaders after a deal is finalised between them.
The man also insists on meeting the TRS MLA after October 25, citing health issues. Interrupting the conversation, another accused, Kumar, is purportedly heard scheduling the meeting after October 25, citing a solar eclipse.
In the second audio clip (27 minutes), the man purported to be Kumar is heard telling Bharathi that Rohith Reddy would have to be paid ₹100 crore and three others would have a different price if they joined before the by-election.
“Don’t waste time on one or two members. Our operation will be successful only when a large number of MLAs join the BJP,” the man is heard saying.
The man purported to be Bharathi is also heard saying that the BJP was ready to mount such an operation in Delhi also, where 43 MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were in touch with him.
The BJP described the audio clips as “TRS drama”.
“We don’t know who these Swamijis were and where they came from. We are not afraid of anybody. Let the case be probed by the CBI or a sitting judge of Supreme Court,” Union minister G Kishan Reddy said.
He said there was nothing unusual in the defection of MLAs and MPs. “The BJP too will admit MLAs from other parties but they should resign from their posts first. The BJP will not come to power in Telangana by poaching three or four MLAs. So why should we do it secretly?” he asked.
BJP state president Bandi Sanjay on Friday conducted a religious ceremony at a temple in Yadadri where he took a vow stating there was no truth to the poaching allegations. “I challenge KCR to take a similar vow...” he said.
