Prison authorities in Tamil Nadu have communicated to former Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (TTD) Board Member and industrialist J. Sekar Reddy that some hardcore criminals, including a few lodged in Puzhal central prison in Chennai, had conspired to abduct or eliminate him.
Mr. Sekar Reddy, who is on conditional bail here, lodged a complaint with the Special Cell of the Delhi Police seeking adequate protection to him and his family members.
He also wrote to the Home Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Home Secretary, Tamil Nadu, about the “imminent” threat from “hardcore criminals” lodged in Puzhal central prison, Chennai.
The information was that some inmates were conspiring to attack or abduct the sand mining baron by engaging their associates outside, police sources said.
Petition sent to DGP
The Tamil Nadu Home Secretary has forwarded the petition seeking protection to the Director General of Police for necessary action. The State government was also informed of the threat by the Vigilance Wing of the Prison Department.
The conspiracy to abduct or attack could be driven by the objective of extorting money or extracting information that could embarrass the government, the sources said.
Mr. Sekar Reddy is on a conditional bail granted by the Madras High Court in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate, Chennai. He was also granted bail in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case relating to possession of ₹33 crore in new ₹2,000 notes.
Both the cases were based on the searches conducted by the Income Tax department on the office and business premises of Mr. Sekar Reddy and his two associates in which ₹120 crore cash and huge quantity of gold were seized in December last year.
‘Imminent threat’
While Mr. Sekar Reddy claimed that the new currency was proceeds of his sand mining business and offered to pay tax as applicable, investigators suspected money laundering and alleged that the demonetised currency notes of ₹1,000 and ₹500 were exchanged with the help of some bankers. Since the agency could not file a charge-sheet within the stipulated time, the trio was granted bail.
In his letter sent to the Union Home Secretary on Saturday, a copy of which was marked to the Tamil Nadu Home Secretary and Chennai Police Commissioner, Mr. Sekar Reddy said though he had written to the Central and State authorities about the threat officially communicated to him by the prison officials, no security was provided to him.
He received another communication on Saturday on the “imminent” threat and appealed for protection to him and his family and also offered to pay the cost of such security arrangements. A team of the Special Cell of the Delhi Police visited his place after the fresh alert on threat perception.
