K Chandrashekar Rao claims BJP is trying to overthrow his government.
Hyderabad:
In a major setback for Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and his BRS party, the Telangana High Court today transferred the “Poachgate” case – involving four MLAs from the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi and some individuals accused of having links to the BJP – — to the CBI. The high court also dismissed the state-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was investigating the politically sensitive case. SIT said it would challenge the High Court’s order.
“Our contention is that SIT cannot conduct an impartial investigation,” BJP leader and advocate N Ramachander Rao said, welcoming the verdict. He called a press conference and made the announcement. Under the circumstances, we do not believe that SIT’s investigation can be impartial,” he added.
Five petitions were filed calling for a CBI investigation. Three are defendants, one is BJP and one is a lawyer. Mr Rao informed that the BJP petition was dismissed on technical grounds.
“This is a very important order from the High Court. We welcome it,” Mr Rao added.
Two months after a farmhouse in Moinabad, Telangana was raided, Cyberabad police claimed they found A plot to overthrow the ruling BRS government by “buying” four MLAs for Rs 1 billion each.
Tandur MLA Rohith Reddy, one of those who claimed to have given money to change his position, today said there were attempts to use central agencies to threaten and intimidate him, although so far it was a state-appointed special investigation team that was investigating the ‘poachinggate’ case .
Chief Minister KCR also claimed that the BJP was trying to overthrow his government, and his party, MLA Mr Reddy, went to court today to ask why the Enforcement Agency was involved in a case it was not investigating.
The BJP has claimed that the “Poachgate” case was orchestrated by the Telangana chief minister and has denied any relationship with the three accused in the case.
The Enforcement Service subpoenaed Mr. Reddy for questioning on December 19-20 in another money laundering-related case. However, he claims the ED crossed the line and collected his personal details, failing to tell him what case he was called to on the first day and telling him it had to do with “poachinggate” the next day.
In early October, an FIR was registered at the Moinabad Police Station following Rohith Reddy’s complaint.
According to the FIR, MLA Rohith Reddy claimed that they (four BRS MLAs) were threatened that criminal proceedings would be brought against them and that if they did so, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would raid them for not joining the BJP.
