MLAs poaching case: Police documents submitted in court reveal more BJP connections

More evidence of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s connection with the three accused in the MLA poaching attempt case are coming out

Hyderabad: More evidence of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s connection with the three accused in the MLA poaching attempt case are coming out, with the documents submitted by the police in court revealing that the prime accused, Ramachandra Bharati, was in touch with BJP’s Telangana in-charge Sunil Bansal.

Bansal’s connection is indicated in the form of an SMS sent by Ramachandra Bharati from his phone to a number saved in the name of Sunil Kumar Bansal (9455114069) on September 26, saying that he needed to talk important matters about Telangana and asking him to suggest some time.

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In another SMS to BL Santosh, whose name is saved as Santosh BJP, Ramachandra Bharati claims there were 25 sitting MLAs ready to join, with the plan being to get 40.

Another revelation in the documents is the involvement of Tushar Vellappally, saved in the name Tushar Vellappally Kerala SNDP (9388881111). Tushar, a leader of the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), had contested against Congress president Rahul Gandhi at Wayanad as the NDA candidate and was the State Convener of the NDA in Kerala. Thushar’s name repeatedly crops up in the audio clips that came out earlier in the day.

The documents also speak in detail how the entire episode unfolded, after the accused began calling Tandur MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy from September 26, offering to pay Rs.100 crore to him and Rs.50 crore to each MLA who shift from the TRS to BJP. They also said he could face ED, CBI raids, if he did not accept the proposal, following which Rohit Reddy decided to trap them recording their meeting. He shared the information with the three other MLAs.

On Wednesday, Rohit Reddy lodged a complaint with the Rajendranagar police, after which the police arranged four surveillance cameras and two voice recorders. Two cameras were installed in the hall of the farmhouse while two voice recorders were placed in Rohit Reddy’s kurta.

The cameras were switched on at 3.05 pm and have recordings of what happened from 3.10 pm when Rohit Reddy entered the hall along with the accused. An hour later, the other three MLAs reached the spot.

Rohit Reddy was earlier asked to give a signal when the meeting was over, by ordering for coconut water (Nariyal Paani Leke Avo). Just as he asked his domestic help for ‘Nariyal Paani’ after the meeting went on for three and a half hours, the police entered the scene.

Police say that the three accused, when asked about the purpose of their visit, kept quiet. The police then seized the pre-arranged electronic spy gadgets from the hall along with the two voice recorders from Rohit Reddy, in which the entire conversation is recorded, including the offer of bribe of Rs.50 crore to each MLA and also Ramachandra Bharathi stating that they had done ‘defection in similar manner’ in Karnataka, Delhi and other States. The voice recorder also discloses the phone call made to Tushar and Santosh.