BJP agents held with cash attempt to buy TRS MLAs

In a major crackdown on an attempt by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to buy four TRS legislators, the police on Wednesday nabbed three persons from a farmhouse in Moinabad after they came here from Delhi with a huge amount of cash.

The three persons caught were Nanda Kumar, the owner of Deccan Pride Hotel in the city and said to be close to union Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, Swami Ramachandra Bharati alias S Satish Sharma from Faridabad near Delhi and Simhayajulu from Tirupati.

The police have seized Rs.15 crore so far, with sources informing that the BJP’s attempt was to buy TRS MLAs Rega Kantha Rao, Guvvala Balaraju, Beeram Harshvardhan Reddy and Pilot Rohit Reddy.

According to Cyberabad Police Commissioner M Stephen Raveendra, the four MLAs, Rega Kantha Rao, Guvvala Balaraju, Beeram Harshvardhan Reddy and Pilot Rohit Reddy, alerted the police, following which a raid was conducted on the farmhouse.

“The MLAs told the police



that they were contacted by certain people, claiming they were from the BJP, asking them to defect from the TRS and join the BJP. They were offered prominent posts, contracts and huge cash in return,” Stephen Raveendra said.

Though the police were yet to reveal the amount seized from the trio, initial reports suggested Rs.15 crore, with the final deal allegedly being Rs.100 crore for the four legislators. Nanda Kumar is said to have coordinated the entire operation and brought the other two to Hyderabad. A car and several bags of cash have been seized by the police.

While this is the first instance wherein three persons were held with cash while attempting to buy politicians from rival parties, the police have so far seized Rs.2.49 crore in various instances from Hyderabad and Munugode as part of the vigil on cash movements ahead of the Munugode bypoll. At least two of these seizures were from BJP leaders, including Rs.1 crore from the husband of a BJP corporator from Karimnagar.