Anti-Corruption Bureau officials are contemplating taking into custody Telangana TDP MLA A. Revanth Reddy, who was lodged in the prison on Monday after being arrested in the cash-for-vote case, to ascertain source of Rs. 50 lakh seized from him and if there were any other conspirators in it.
While the Income Tax Department is likely to probe the angle of source of the money, the ACB investigators are focussing on key points like the Call-Data Record of the mobile phones of the accused, including Mr. Reddy. “The CDR would hint about possible complicity of other persons. If clinching evidence was found, there could be more arrests in coming days,” sources in ACB told The Hindu .
The investigators remained tight-lipped about the clinching evidence they had secured in the rare reverse trap case of corruption. “We have nothing to do with the video released to the media but surely we have quite a few audio clips and video footage that connect the accused with the crime,” a top official of the ACB, unwilling to be quoted, said.
He also said that, more than political connections of the accused, points to be clarified were the origin of the money and the persons behind it. “We cannot rely on the names or persons the accused had referred to in their conversations because that becomes weak evidence,” the investigators said.
Mr. Reddy, a bishop Harry Sebastian and another person Rudhra Narsimha were detained by ACB officials when the trio went to the flat of MLA Elvis Stephenson, nominated from the Anglo-Indian community — at Lalaguda carrying Rs. 50 lakh. They were accused of trying to bribe Mr. Stephenson to vote in favour of the TDP MLC candidate.
The trio was produced before the judge of the Special Court for ACB and SPE cases. They were remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
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