TRS MLAs poaching case: SIT grills accused on second day

Hyderabad: The Special Investigation Team probing the MLAs' poaching case continued questioning the accused for the second day on Friday.

The police took the custody of the accused from Chanchalguda Jail and brought them to the Forensic Science Laboratory.

It is learnt that the investigating team will record audio of the accused for building strong evidence against them.

The police already have video and audio recordings of the accused - Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Simhayaji and Nandakumar.

These recordings were made when they were meeting four MLAs of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) at a farmhouse at Moinabad near Hyderabad on October 26 to allegedly lure them to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

On a tip-off by one of the MLAs, Cyberabad police arrested the accused.

The SIT is trying to collect more information from the accused based on the conversation they had with the TRS MLAs.

On the first day, SIT officials had questioned the accused at Rajendranagar police station.

The investigating officials are trying to find out about those who are behind the attempt to buy the MLAs. They are also trying to ascertain who had agreed to provide Rs 250 crore to them.

The state government on Wednesday constituted a SIT to probe the case following Telangana High Court lifting the stay on the investigation.

The SIT is headed by Hyderabad Police Commissioner C. V. Anand. Six other police officers are the members of the team.

The three accused said to be BJP agents were arrested 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.