MLAs poaching case: BJP ‘agent’ had ties with GoI officials

The BJP men had allegedly offered huge amounts of money, prominent posts in the saffron party and Central government contracts to the MLAs.

Hyderabad: The SIT, which is probing the BJP’s covert operation of luring four TRS (now BRS) MLAs, has found that Ramachandra Bharathi, one of the three accused in the case, was in close contact with two officials working in one of the most important Central government offices in New Delhi.

The SIT investigators, who examined Bharathi’s call data record, have found that he was in continuous contact with a certain Ravi Vashist, believed to be an under Secretary in the Government of India.

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Well-connected

Bharathi is a well-connected person and despite claiming to be a Swamy, he is married to Parul, who works in Niti Aayog. Investigators also came to know that he has good connections in the higher echelons of the Central government and is believed to be aware of postings of important officials beforehand.

He is also known to be a conduit for getting choicest postings for officials. The SIT probe also gained momentum and the data analysis is happening at 30 places in the country. The SIT has so far retrieved 5 TB of data from the phones and computers of the three accused, sources said.

Adding further, sources said, quoting the information gleaned from the interrogation of the three arrested, that the BJP-led Central government was planning to conduct raids by the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax on six TRS legislators Muthireddy Yadagirireddy, A Gandhi, Marri Janardhan Reddy, Rajender Reddy, Pyla Shekhar Reddy and Jeevan Reddy.

This apart, four State Ministers — Forest Minister A Indrakaran Reddy, Excise Minister Srinivas Goud, Animal Husbandry Minister T Srinivas Yadav and Labour Minister Ch Malla Reddy — were also on the radar. Meanwhile, the Additional Special Judge for SPE and ACB Cases Court in Nampally, Hyderabad, on Monday rejected the bail application of the three alleged BJP agents arrested by the Moinabad police in the TRS MLA poaching case.

The three — Nanda Kumar, owner of two commercial establishments at Deccan Kitchen Hotel, Film Nagar; Bharati alias S Satish Sharma from Faridabad near Delhi; and Simhayajulu from Tirupati — were arrested last month.

The three BJP ‘agents’ were arrested when they allegedly tried to lure the four MLAs of the ruling TRS (BRS). The BJP men had allegedly offered huge amounts of money, prominent posts in the saffron party and Central government contracts to the MLAs. Following a complaint from Tandur MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy, the police arrested and remanded them.

“During the argument for bail petition, the counsel for the government argued that the investigation is at a preliminary stage and if the three persons are released on bail, there is scope for them to tamper with evidence and influence the witnesses,” police sources said. The three are currently in judicial remand and lodged in a Central Prison.