The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested former Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (TTD) Board Member and industrialist J. Sekhar Reddy and his associate K. Srinivasulu in connection with the seizure of new currency to the tune of several crores from their premises.
The accused were produced in a city court and remanded in judicial custody till January 3, 2017.
According to sources in the agency, the arrest of Mr. Reddy and his associate comes days after income-tax officials conducted simultaneous searches on their premises and seized more than Rs. 120 crore in cash and a huge quantity of gold. Based on “source information”, the CBI registered a case under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against the accused persons.
“Our case is focussed on the seizure of Rs. 33.6 crore of new currency (Rs. 2,000 denomination) from the premises of Sekhar Reddy and his associates. It is suspected that they managed to get the new currency with the connivance of some bank officials and public servants,” a spokesperson for the CBI told The Hindu on Wednesday. Confirming that investigators conducted searches in Chennai and Vellore, the spokesperson said details of seizures made could not be divulged at this stage.
The CBI had registered a case against Mr. Reddy, his associates Srinivasulu and Prem Kumar, unknown bank officials and public servants.
Agency seeks custody
Another CBI official said the role of Prem Kumar was under investigation and added that a petition was filed in the designated court seeking 15-day custodial interrogation of the accused.
Stating that the agency had no role in the searches conducted by the Income Tax Department on the premises of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao, the official said further investigation in the CBI case would be based on various aspects, including material evidence gathered so far and statement of the accused.
The arrested accused were produced before the Principal Judge for CBI cases G. Vijayalakshmi here. The two filed separate applications seeking to enlarge them on bail.
The judge posted the case to December 23 for hearing their bail pleas as well as the CBI’s petition seeking their custodial interrogation.
