TRS MLAs poaching case: Simhayaji Swami walks out of jail on bail

Hyderabad: Simhayaji Swami, one of the accused in the TRS MLAs poaching case walked out of the Chanchalguda central jail on bail on Wednesday morning after spending 40 days in public and judicial custody.

On December 1, the Telangana High Court granted bail to Swami and the other two accused Ramachandra Bharati and K Nanda Kumar. However, Ramachandra Bharati and Nanda Kumar are still in prison as the Cyberabad police have filed other cases against them.

The High Court had directed the accused to pay a bond of Rs 3 lakh each with two sureties and asked them to appear before the special investigation team (SIT) probing the case every Monday.

It is to mention here that the remaining two accused in the 4 TRS MLAs poaching case will have to continue to stay in jail despite being granted bail as they failed to arrange the required money.

It is to mention here that the three accused approached TRS MLAs before the Munugodu by-polls in November. On December 1, the Telangana High Court granted conditional bail to Ramachandra Bharathi, K Nanda Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy. They were asked to pay Rs 3 lakh each in surety.

Bharati's lawyer, Rama Rao urged the court to reduce the bail amount as the accused earned a salary of Rs 20,000 a month. The public prosecutor Ramana Rao opposed the argument wondering how the accused could offer Rs 250 crores to the MLAs, given the meagre salary he draws.

The Chanchalguda jail authorities where the accused are lodged stated that Swamy will also remain imprisoned as he failed to arrange the surety money.

It is to be noted that the three accused were booked for bribery and criminal conspiracy under the Prevention of Corruption Act on October 26. They had approached TRS MLAs including Pilot Rohit Reddy, Rega Kanta Rao, Guvvala Balaraju and Beeram Harshavardhan Reddy urging them to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the crucial by-poll.