8 held for conspiracy to kill Minister Srinivas Goud, aide

Hyderabad: The Cyberabad police busted a conspiracy to allegedly murder Tourism Minister V Srinivas Goud and arrested eight persons. The role of State BJP leaders, Jitender Reddy and DK Aruna, is under investigation. The Minister and the BJP leaders hail from Mahbubnagar district.

The eight arrested persons conspired to kill Goud by offering a 'Supari' of Rs 15 crore to one Farooq. The arrested were identified as Yadaiah, Nagaraju, Vishwanath, Raghavender Raju, Madhusudhan, Munnar Ravi, Thapa and Amarender.

Giving more information, Cyberabad Police Commissioner Stephen Ravindra said, "The conspiracy came to the light in February when the Petbasheerabad police arrested Yadaiah, Nagaraju and Vishwanath for trying to murder Farooq and Hyder Ali."

"Farooq has a criminal history. When he was returning from the Excise court in Mahbubnagar in November last year, he was approached by the trio who offered him Rs 15 crore to eliminate Hyder Ali, stating that he was a close confidant of Goud. Actually, they intended to eliminate the Minister and Hyder was only an excuse. But they did not know that Farooq and Hyder were friends. Farooq informed Hyder and helped him stay in a lodge near Suchitra."

"In November, Hyder lived in the lodge. In February, Farooq met Hyder. When they were having tea, the three spotted them, chased the duo with an intent to kill both Farooq and Hyder. The duo filed a plaint at Petbasheerabad police station. The police arrested Yadaiah, Nagaraju and Vishwanath and remanded them to judicial custody. Later, Nagaraju revealed details of the conspiracy."

Based on his inputs, special teams searched for Raju, Madhusudhan, Ravi and Amarender. As their mobile tower location was traced in Delhi, the teams visited the site and found it was the servant quarters of BJP ex-MP Jitender Reddy, stated Ravindra.

He added, "It was known that the personal assistant (PA) Raju and Ravi, driver of Reddy, had provided shelter to Yadaiah, Nagaraju and Vishwanath, who travelled to Delhi via Vizag from Hyderabad. The role of other persons arrested in the case is being ascertained." "However, we came to know that Madhusudhan and Amarender were financing Rs 15 crore. The two guns seized from the arrested were purchased from Uttar Pradesh. Soon we will take police custody of those arrested. Details of conspiracy will be unearthed," said Ravindra.