Setback to KCR, HC transfers poaching case to CBI

The Telangana High Court has on Monday handed over the investigation in the BRS MLAs poaching case to the CBI.

The development is seen as a blow to BRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao as the SIT constituted by his was investigating the sensational case till now.

Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay welcomed the high court judgment and asserted that the party is hopeful of CBI inquiry unearthing facts in the case and exposing the real culprits.

The SIT had even summoned BJP top leader B L Santhosh for questioning in the case, while also moving to name him as one of the accused in the alleged bribery case.

Ramachandra Bharati (a native of Delhi), DPSKVN Simhayaji (from Tirupati) and Nandu Kumar (from Hyderabad), were arrested on October 26 from a farmhouse near Hyderabad by the Telangana Police on the charges of attempting to bribe four ruling party MLAs, with an offer of Rs 50 crore to 100 crore each to defect into the BJP.

A week later in a press conference held in Pragathi Bhavan, KCR presented the video-audio evidence from the meeting of “three Delhi sent agents” and his four BRS MLAs at the farmhouse and charged that the BJP had conspired to topple his government.

The BJP and some of the accused in the case had approached the HC mentioning the CM’s interference while the probe was on and stating the whole SIT probe as being unfair.

The BJP had charged that its name was unnecessarily dragged for political gains and sought a probe by a central agency like CBI or a sitting judge.

Hearing the matter further on Monday, the HC ordered the SIT to hand over the probe to the CBI forthwith. The court which has quashed the BJP petition on technical grounds is said to have passed the case transfer order based on the same prayer of accused Nandu Kumar, B Srinivas etc.

The HC order however could be challenged in the Supreme Court by the Telangana authorities.

A retired IPS officer, who earlier held a senior position in the CBI, said that the central agency will now investigate the matter afresh, from the beginning, re-registering the complaint of Rohith Reddy, one of the four BRS MLAs, whose information, the police had then said, led to the arrest of the three alleged mediators.

Rohith Reddy was interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate sleuths recently in the same case.

“The MLA will be questioned now by the CBI. It could also investigate how the CM got hold of the evidence,” the retired official said.