Hyderabad : A city court judgement dismissing a police petition seeking judicial remand for three people accused of attempting to poach four Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLAs was a major setback for the ruling party.
Following the order of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court judge, the police released Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nanda Kumar, and Simhayaji Swamy.
On Thursday night, nearly 24 hours after detaining the three people at a farmhouse outside Hyderabad, the police brought them before the judge at his home in Saroornagar.
Judge G. Rajagopal, on the other hand, denied the police plea for judicial custody, alleging a lack of proof. He noted that because there is no evidence of bribe money, the Prevention of Corruption Act does not apply to the case.
The judge directed police to serve notices on the accused for questioning under Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Cyberabad police, who released the accused after a court order, are reportedly seeking legal advice on their next steps in the case.
The accused, who are known to be close to some prominent BJP leaders, were apprehended at a farmhouse in Moinabad on Wednesday night while allegedly attempting to entice four TRS MLAs with offers of large quantities of money, significant posts, and contracts.
Police launched a FIR against Ramachandra Bharati of Delhi, Nanda Kumar of Hyderabad, and Simhayaji Swamy of Tirupati after receiving a complaint from one of the MLAs, Pilot Rohit Reddy.
The case was filed under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 171-B (bribery) read with 171-E (bribery punishment), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) read with 34 (acts done by multiple persons in furtherance of common intention), and section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The accused, according to the complaint, offered him Rs 100 crore. They also promised him Central Government civil contract jobs and other high-level Central Government positions in exchange for monetary rewards in order to entice him to join the BJP.
The MLA told police that if he does not join the BJP, there will be criminal cases and raids by the ED/CBI, and the TRS-led Telangana government will be deposed.
The accused bribed three other MLAs with Rs 50 crore each to join the BJP.
Cyberabad police arrived at the property and detained the three suspects after receiving a tip from Rohit Reddy.
Police questioned the accused, including two "godmen," at an undisclosed location on Thursday.
The court, however, refused to put them to judicial remand. This is a setback for the TRS, which has accused the BJP of poaching its MLAs in order to destabilise the administration.
The arrests caused aftershocks in state politics. Ministers, TRS MPs, MLAs, and other leaders took to the streets to oppose the BJP. The saffron party disputed the claims, claiming that the drama was staged by Chief Minister KCR to gain political mileage ahead of the Munugode Assembly by-election.
Though there have been rumours that the police seized large sums of money from the farmhouse, no such evidence was presented to the court.
Meanwhile, Nanda Kumar said that they were at the farmhouse for puja after the release. "I have nothing to do with the charges," he stated flatly. The businessman stated that justice had been served in the case.
(Inputs from Agencies)
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