Telangana: two top ministers booked for 'cheating'

Finance minister P Chidambaram and home minister Sushilkumar Shinde were on Monday booked on charges of cheating, after an Andhra Pradesh lawyers association member accused them of reneging on their announcements about a separate Telangana state. Ashok K Das reports.

Finance minister P Chidambaram and home minister Sushilkumar Shinde were on Monday booked on charges of cheating, after an Andhra Pradesh lawyers association member accused them of reneging on their announcements about a separate Telangana state.

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A case of cheating was filed against the ministers at LB Nagar Police Station on the outskirts of Hyderabad. A district court had pulled up the station house officer of the station last week for not implementing court orders passed on January 28 on a complaint filed by Telangana Junior Advocates’ Association member Naresh Kumar.

The court on January 28 had directed the police to file First Information Report (FIR), probe the allegations and also file a status report before it by February 14.

In the petition, Kumar had said Chidambaram as home minister had announced on December 9, 2009 that the process for creation of a separate Telangana state had been set in motion, but he later went back on his words.

Similarly, at an all-party meeting in December last year, Shinde had announced that a decision on Telangana would be announced within a month.

The petitioner said the two leaders had made misleading statements and cheated the people of Telangana. He said the duo was responsible for the suicide of hundreds of students and youths of the region.