Hyderabad: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Telangana government to probe the alleged poaching of TRS MLAs questioned the three accused in the case on the second day on Friday, officials said. The three accused Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nanda Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy were booked under relevant sections for criminal conspiracy, offering bribes and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 for allegedly luring four TRS MLAs to join the BJP.
The poaching case was filed based on a complaint from TRS Tandur MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy. On Thursday, the State government formed a seven-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case. The SIT headed by Hyderabad City Police Commissioner CV Anand has Nalgonda SP Rema Rajeshwari, Cyberabad DCP (Crime) Kalmeshwar Shingenawar and Shamshabad DCP R Jagadishwar Reddy as its members among others.
Also read: Telangana Govt forms SIT to probe TRS MLAs poaching case
Sources said that one of the accused Nanda Kumar, a Hyderabad-based businessman, was questioned over his frequent visits to Delhi recently and the people he met there. He was also questioned about financial transactions with another person. Sources said that Nanda Kumar gave inconsistent answers to the questions.
The other two accused Ramachandra Bharati and Simhayaji were also questioned by the SIT. Ramachandrabharti was asked about the summary of the chats on the cell phone and his relationship with the people on the contact list, according to sources. Sources said that as soon as the SIT was formed, the accused were directly taken from the jail to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Nampally on Friday where they underwent voice tests to match the purported audio of the poaching deal.
Later, the accused were taken separately to Rajendranagar police station where they were interrogated in separate rooms. The ACB court in Nampally has extended the remand of the accused in the case till November 25. The accused's counsel pleaded with the court that the local police have no authority to register the case except the ACB. The counsel for the prosecution told the court that the police arrested the accused under Section 17D of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
