Andhra liquor scam: Key accused sent to judicial remand till May 20

Vijayawada, May 14 (IANS) A city court on Wednesday sent Govindappa Balaji, Director of Bharathi Cement Corporation Pvt Ltd, to judicial custody till May 20 in the liquor scam case.

After the ACB Court remanded Balaji to judicial custody, he was shifted to the Vijayawada jail.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the multi-crore liquor scam under YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) rule, arrested Balaji in Karnataka on Tuesday.

Balaji, alleged to be a close aide of former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, was brought to Vijayawada under a transit warrant, and after questioning by the SIT officials, he was produced before the court.

Balaji, listed as accused number 33 in the case, is accused of distributing kickbacks among liquor syndicate members through shell companies.

Meanwhile, K. Dhanunjaya Reddy, a retired IAS officer and ex-secretary of former chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, and Krishna Mohan Reddy, former Officer on Special Duty (OSD), on Wednesday appeared before the SIT for questioning.

The SIT officials were questioning them at the SIT office at Vijayawada Commissionerate.

Dhanunjaya Reddy and Krishna Mohan Reddy are accused numbers 31 and 32, respectively, in the case.

On their petitions for anticipatory bail, the Supreme Court directed SIT not to take any action against the accused till May 16 but asked them to appear before SIT.

The SIT had served notices last week to Govindappa and two others.

They were directed to appear before the SIT office at Vijayawada Commissionerate on May 12 for questioning. However, they skipped the appearance.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on May 7 rejected their anticipatory bail pleas, citing the preliminary stage of the investigation into the alleged scam of Rs 3,200 crore.

It was alleged that the YSR Congress Party leaders encouraged a new liquor policy, floated new brands during YSRCP rule, received kickbacks from the distillery companies and caused huge losses to the government.

Raj Kasireddy, the prime accused in the case, was allegedly handing over the bribe to the trio after collecting from the owners of the liquor companies.

The SIT on April 21 arrested Kasireddy, who allegedly played a key role in the alleged illegal collection of nearly Rs 3,000 crore over a five-year period. He was the IT advisor to Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The TDP-led NDA government constituted the SIT in November last year to investigate the allegations of irregularities and corruption in Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation Limited (APSBCL) under the YSRCP tenure.

--IANS

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