TDP leader Prabhakar Reddy appears before ED for second day

Hyderabad: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader from Andhra Pradesh, J. C. Prabhakar Reddy appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the second consecutive day on Saturday for questioning in alleged vehicle purchase scam.

Prabhakar Reddy, who is chairman of Tadipatri municipality and a former MLA, appeared before ED officials at the agency’s regional office here.

The ED officials on Friday questioned Prabhakar Reddy and his son J. C Ashmit Reddy for nearly eight hours regarding the alleged purchase of scrap vehicles, illegal registration and operation. They are also facing allegations of selling some of the vehicles in violation of several laws and contrary to the Supreme Court verdict prohibiting the sale of BS III vehicles post April 1, 2017.

Prabhakar Reddy denied that he was summoned by the ED in connection with a money laundering case. He told reporters that he will prove his innocence before the ED and cooperate with the agency in the investigation.

“This is not a scam involving crores of rupees, but a few trucks. I have answered all the questions of ED,” he had said after the first day of questioning.

Prabhakar Reddy and his son were arrested in 2020. On a complaint from the transport department, the police had booked criminal cases against two companies owned by Prabhakar Reddy and his son, their family members and associates.

Jatadhara Industries owned by J. C. Uma Reddy, wife of Prabhakar Reddy, and his son Ashmit Reddy, and C. Gopal Reddy & Co, owned by Gopal Reddy, a close associate of Prabhakar Reddy, were booked for allegedly buying vehicles sold as scrap by Ashok Leyland and getting them registered in Nagaland in 2018 by producing fake documents. These vehicles were found to be plying in the Anantapur district.

Prabhakar Reddy is brother of J. C. Diwakar Reddy, a former MP and former Andhra Pradesh minister.