US seeks arrest of Cong MP in RS in fraud conspiracy

A US court had indicted Rao for allegedly bribing government officials to facilitate titanium mining licences in Andhra Pradesh involving $18 million. The US court had also indicted five others.

Acting on United States’ communication via Interpol, the CBI has forwarded its request for the provisional arrest of Congress’s Rajya Sabha member KVP Ramachandra Rao —who was recently indicted by an American court in an alleged fraud conspiracy — to Delhi police and Andhra Pradesh police for appropriate legal action.

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A US court had indicted Rao for allegedly bribing government officials to facilitate titanium mining licences in Andhra Pradesh involving $18 million. The US court had also indicted five others. The Congress MP, however, has denied any charges against him.

“We have forwarded the US request against KVP Rao for appropriate action as per Indian law to the Delhi police authorities and the Andhra Pradesh police. The US has however not sent any formal extradition request against him, though India has a treaty with that country,” said a CBI source. The US request for Rao’s provisional arrest is not time-bound, according to the source.

The US letter to CBI came via its National Central Bureau, which is under the Department of Justice, seeking Rao’s “provisional arrest” till all the documents were handed over to India through diplomatic channels.

The US case pertains to 2006, when some companies and the state government of AP agreed to set up a joint venture to mine various minerals, including one which may be processed into various Titanium-based products.