Telangana SIT grills accused in MLAs poaching case

Hyderabad: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Telangana police were questioning three accused in MLAs’ poaching case here on Thursday.

The police took the custody of the accused from Chanchalguda Jail and brought them to Rajendranagar police station on the outskirts amid tight security.

Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, a priest from Faridabad in Haryana, Simhayaji, pontiff from Tirupati and Nandakumar, owner of a restaurant in Hyderabad, were being questioned in connection with the sensational case in which they allegedly tried to lure four MLAs of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The investigating officers are reported to be questioning the accused separately in the presence of their lawyers and recording their statements.

The SIT is focusing on retrieving more information from the accused based on the conversation they had with the TRS MLAs.

The accused were being questioned a day after the state government constituted SIT to probe the case following Telangana High Court lifting the stay on the investigation.

The SIT is headed by Hyderabad Police Commissioner C. V. Anand. Six other police officers are the members of the team.

The three accused said to be BJP agents were arrested from a farmhouse at Moinabad near Hyderabad on the night of October 26 when they were allegedly trying to lure four MLAs of TRS with offers of huge money.

Cyberabad police conducted the raid on a tip-off by Pilot Rohit Reddy, one of the MLAs. He alleged that the accused offered Rs 100 crore to him and Rs 50 crore each to three others.

The accused were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act.