MLAs poaching case: Telangana High Court asks accused to surrender

Hyderabad: In a major development in the sensational MLAs poaching case, the Telangana High Court on Saturday set aside the lower court's order rejecting remand of the three accused allegedly linked to BJP.

The High Court directed Ramachandra Bharathi alias Satish Sharma, Kore Nanda Kumar alias Nandu and Simhayaji to surrender before Cyberabad police within 24 hours.

It also asked the lower court to send the accused to remand if the police produce them again.

Justice Chillakur Sumalatha passed the orders on a criminal revision petition filed by the Cyberabad police seeking to set aside the ACB special court judge order rejecting remand of the accused.

The First Additional Special Judge for SPE and ACB cases had rejected the remand application of the accused when they were presented before him late on Thursday night. The judge observed that the police failed to comply with the mandatory procedure of issuing notices to the accused under section 41A of Criminal Procedure Code.

Challenging this order, the Cyberabad police had approached the High Court. The High Court judge observed the lower court did not take into consideration Supreme Court judgment about notices under section 41 of CrPC. The judge noted that if the investigating officer feels that there is no need for issuing notice, he can act accordingly.

The three accused said to be BJP agents were arrested by the police from a farmhouse at Moinabad near Hyderabad on the night of October 26 when they were allegedly trying to lure four MLAs of TRS with offers of huge money.

Cyberabad police conducted the raid on a tip-off by Pilot Rohit Reddy, one of the MLAs. He alleged that the accused offered Rs 100 crore to him and Rs 50 crore each to three others.

The accused were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act. They were produced before a magistrate on the night of October 27 but he refused to send them to judicial custody, citing lack of evidence.

Following the court orders, police released the accused. Later, the police approached Telangana High Court challenging the orders of the lower court.

Audio tapes of the telephonic conversation between Ramachandra Bharati and Rohit Reddy were leaked by the TRS team on Friday. The accused discussed the 'deal' to buy MLAs and also mentioned the names of some top BJP leaders.