TRS leader denies receiving CBI notice in impersonation case
He termed as "speculation" reports in a section of media that the central agency has summoned him for questioning.
Hyderabad: TRS leader and former mayor of Greater Hyderabad, Bonthu Rammohan on Thursday denied receiving any notice from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a case pertaining to the arrest of fake CBI officer Kovvi Srinivas Rao.
He termed as “speculation” reports in a section of media that the central agency has summoned him for questioning.
The CBI on Wednesday serves notices to Telangana Minister Gangula Kamalakar and TRS MP Vaddiraju Ravichandra asking them to appear before the central agency in Delhi on Thursday.
Srinivas Rao was arrested from the Tamil Nadu Bhawan in Delhi two days ago.
Rammohan denied any links with Srinivas Rao. “If somebody comes and take a photograph with me, does it mean I have links with him, asked the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader.
The former mayor said he met Srinivas at a function but had no dealings with him. He found fault with some media outlets for spreading false news that the CBI has arrested him.
Srinivas, who hails from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, has been promising to help those facing probe by the central agencies. Claiming to have influence in political corridors and bureaucracy in the southern states, he was said to be striking deals worth crores of rupees.
The CBI is believed to be investigating if Kamalakar and Ravichandra had allegedly approached Srinivas to help them through his contacts in the case relating to irregularities in granite companies.
Officials of the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate on November 9 and 10 had conducted joint searches at the offices and residence of owners of granite firms including those allegedly linked to the Minister and the MP.
The searches were carried out after allegations of tax evasion and FEMA violations against granite businessmen.
On Monday, the CBI arrested Srinivas Rao from Tamil Nadu Bhawan for allegedly impersonating as an IPS official and claiming to be Joint Director of the CBI.
The CBI had recently got a tip-off that the accused had been impersonating as an IPS Officer and Joint Director of CBI. He was demanding bribes from unknown private persons for lobbying with public servants for getting favourable response in matters which included the cases registered by different central investigative agencies.
