Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Saturday condemned Malladi Vishnu’s arrest in connection with the spurious liquor case and accused the Telugu Desam Government of being biased and targeting the former MLA.
“It is a political vendetta. Vishnu is not involved in the incident. It is a government’s ploy to frame him with ulterior motives. The Congress will take up the issue seriously and stand by him,” said PCC president N. Raghuveera Reddy while addressing the media at Andhra Ratna Bhavan here on Saturday. He came down heavily on the police and authorities investigating the case. “Authorities are not following the rules and are becoming puppets in the hand of TDP Government,” said Mr. Reddy.
Earlier, the PCC Chief, along with MLC C. Ramachandraiah, MP K.V.P Ramachandra Rao and other senior leaders called on the former MLA in the District Jail here. Later, they visited his home and spoke to his family members as well. MLC Ramachandraiah said TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu did not even bother to condemn the role of a party leader in the cash-for-vote scam, forget about taking action. The government had listed out names of few TDP leaders in the call money racket, but did not let the law take its course, he charged, alleging that the accused were shielded. “We definitely condemn the incident and also Vishnu’s arrest. Investigation should be transparent, authorities should make CCTV footage and forensic reports public,” demanded Mr. Ramachandraiah.
Vizianagaram Correspondent adds: DCC president Yedla Adiraju on Saturday said that the TDP had “implicated” Mr. Vishnu in the liquor tragedy. In a statement, he said that the government had appointed SIT only to link Mr. Vishnu with the tragedy, if the statement obtained from the bar managers that “Malladi Vishnu is the proprietor” was any indication.
