BJP trying to 'buy' TRS MLAs? Telangana Police detain 3 agents with 'huge amount of cash'; check details
Though the commissioner did not disclose the exact amount seized from them, another police official said on condition of anonymity that the seized cash was about Rs 15 crore.
FollowAt least three people were detained on Wednesday from the outskirts of Hyderabad with a "large amount of cash" that was allegedly meant to lure four legislators from the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a senior police officer said.
Speaking to reporters, Cyberabad police commissioner Stephen Raveendra said that based on a tip-off, he and a team of senior police officials raided a farmhouse at Aziznagar in Moinabad block late on Wednesday evening.
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"We took three people – Nanda Kumar, owner of Deccan Pride Hotel in Hyderabad, Swami Ramachandra Bharati alias S Satish Sharma from Faridabad near Delhi and Simha Yajulu from Tirupati – into custody. We also seized a huge amount of cash from them," Raveendra said.
Though the commissioner did not disclose the exact amount seized from them, another police official said on condition of anonymity that the seized cash was about Rs 15 crore.
According to Ravindra, the three men were targeting MLAs Rega Kantha Rao (Pinapaka), Guvvala Balaraju (Achampet) and Beeram Harshvardhan Reddy (Kollapur) and Pilot Rohit Reddy (Tandur).
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"It was the four MLAs who gave us information about the covert operation. They told us that they were contacted by certain people who asked them to defect from the TRS and join the BJP. In return, they were offered prominent posts, contracts and huge cash," Raveendra said.
However, the state BJP denied the allegations and said it had no need to "buy MLAs" and that the whole matter was "stage-managed".
"The Telangana BJP doesn't have either money, or necessity to purchase the TRS MLAs. It is all stage-managed drama," BJP national vice-president DK Aruna said.
