YSR Cong’s Perni Nani gets temporary arrest shield from HC in missing rice case

The Andhra Pradesh high court told the police to not arrest Perni Nani until January 6, when the next hearing is scheduled.

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh high court on Tuesday told the police not to arrest senior YSR Congress Party leader and former minister Perni Venkataramaiah alias Perni Nani until the next hearing on January 6 in connection with a case related to rice meant for the public distribution system (PDS) going missing from a godown in Machilipatnam.

Nearly 378 metric tonnes PDS rice went missing from a warehouse leased by the state’s civil supplies department from Perni Nani’s wife in Machilipatnam. (X/_Ysrkutumbam)

Acting on a lunch motion petition filed by Nani seeking anticipatory bail, the high court told the police not to act against Nani until January 6, when the next hearing is scheduled.

The Machilipatnam police listed Nani as the sixth accused (A-6) in a case registered in connection with 378 metric tonnes of PDS rice going missing from JS Warehouse owned by his wife Jayasudha at Potlapalem in Bandar mandal (block). The warehouse was leased to state civil supplies department.

Four people, warehouse manager Bethapudi Manasa Teja, civil supplies department assistant manager Ch Kotireddy, rice mill owner Borra Anjaneyulu, and lorry driver Botla Naga Manga Rao, have been arrested in this case and remanded in judicial custody for 12 days.

“The cases were filed against the accused under Sections 316 (3) (criminal breach of trust by a warehouse keeper), 316 (5) (criminal breach of trust by a public servant), 61 (2) r/w 3 (5) (criminal conspiracy) of Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (BNS), 2023,” a person familiar with the matter said quoting the remand report submitted by the police to the Machilipatnam court.

Police said senior civil supplies department officials spotted a mismatch between the rice in the warehouse and the official records during an annual inspection on December 4.

“Investigations revealed that there was a shortage of 378 metric tonnes of rice in the godown. When questioned, Perni Nani initially claimed that the weighbridge was malfunctioning,” a police officer said.

An official privy to the development said the department issued notices to Jayasudha, who allegedly paid ₹1.79 crore to address the rice shortage. On Monday, the district authorities issued additional notices to her seeking payment of an additional ₹1.67 crore.