A special court in Telangana on Sunday sent three persons accused of having lured ruling government MLAs to join the Bharatiya Janata Party to 14-day judicial custody, NDTV reported.
The accused were re-arrested and produced before the court on the orders of the Telangana High Court on Saturday.
On October 27, the police had filed a first information report under the Prevention of Corruption Act against a Hindu seer named D Simhayaji, his disciple Ramachandra Bharati alias Satiesh Sharma and businessman Nandakumar. The police accused them of trying to lure four Telangana Rashtra Samithi to join the BJP by offering them large amounts of money.
The four MLAs – P Rohit Reddy, Bheeram Harshavardhan Reddy, P Rega Kantha Rao, Guvvala Balaraju – were seen at a farmhouse in the Aziz Nagar area of Cyberabad on October 26.
The police had presented the three accused persons before an anti-corruption bureau court and sought their judicial custody. However, they were released after the court refused to order custody, stating that there was no evidence for the alleged crime.
The court also said that the Prevention of Corruption Act did not apply in the case, as the police did not show any evidence of the seizure of money from the accused persons.
This decision was challenged by the Telangana Police in the High Court, which subsequently ruled in their favour and ordered the accused to surrender.
Purported audio clips
Meanwhile, two purported audio clips of conversations between Bharati and MLA P Rohit Reddy surfaced on social media. In the conversations, a man purported to be Bharati is heard urging Reddy to get more legislators to join the BJP before the Munugode bye-election, which is scheduled for November 3.
The BJP, however, said that the audio clips were a part of “TRS drama”. Union minister G Kishan Reddy demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation or a sitting Supreme Court judge should look into the case.
The BJP also approached the Enforcement Directorate and Election Commission, demanding an investigation into the matter, PTI reported. It alleged that the TRS levelled the allegations to influence the Munugode bye-election.
Scroll.in has not verified the authenticity of the audio clips.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!