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Liquor scam threatens Kiran Kumar Govt
The rapidly unravelling liquor scam is threatening the very stability of the Congress Government in Andhra as more and more politicians, including Ministers and other elected representatives were coming under the shadow of doubt as the Anti-Corruption Bureau was continuing its probe into the massive graft.
After Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkat Ramanna, it was now the turn of Road and Buildings Minister Dharmana Prasad Rao to face the allegations that his kin and a personal assistant also had their hands in the liquor pie.
The fresh revelations by the ACB that a liquor trader in Srikakulam admitted paying bribes to a relative and personal assistant of the Minister in exchange of protection to his illegal and irregular activities in the liquor trade has rattled the State Government.
Like the Excise Minister, Prasad Rao has also claimed innocence and found fault with the ACB for mentioning his name in the remand report on the basis of the statement of liquor syndicate kingpin Oruganti Eswara Rao.
While the liquor trader told the ACB that the liquor syndicate paid bribe to Minister’s nephew Venkat and personal assistant Appa Rao to the tune of Rs 39 lakh, the Minister told the reporters in Srikakulam that the allegations were false. “I have only one nephew and his name is Rahul,” he said. About his PA he said it was unlikely because he had a clean record.
However, the position of Prasad Rao was not as precarious as that of Mopidevi Venkat Ramanna as he was directly named in the remand report for being paid bribe of Rs 10 lakh by liquor trader Ramanna.
Like in the case of liquor syndicate in Khammam, where the name of the Excise Minister cropped up, and in Srikakulam where Minister for Road and Buildings has landed in trouble, the ACB investigations across the State have reportedly revealed the involvement of several other Ministers, MPs, MLAs and MLCs, many of them from the ruling party.
“The amount paid by liquor syndicates to the politicians, the officials and employees of Excise and Police department and media runs into hundreds of crores of rupees,” said a source familiar with the progress of the probe.
The ACB has so far arrested 19 people in 12 districts, including five inspectors, one sub inspector and one head constable of Excise department. The Government has also suspended assistant commissioner of Excise department in Guntur district after the allegations of taking bribe from the liquor syndicate.
According to the remand diary filed by the ACB in Visakhapatanam after its raids in Srikakulam district, the syndicate was paying a bribe of Rs 20,000 per month to a circle inspector of police, Prasad. The report also mentioned the names of several other Government officials, including RDO N Satyanarayana, Additional SP BDV Sagar, among the beneficiaries of the graft.
Surprisingly in the case of Hyderabad, which was the biggest centre of liquor trade in the State, the ACB has not arrested anybody so far. It has declared kingpin of the liquor syndicate Balraju Goud as absconding. Balraju, who has interests in the liquor trade in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar was politically strong and influential having close links with several politicians and Ministers.
The allegations that the liquor syndicate was paying bribes to at least nine Ministers and 80 other elected representatives have created a major political storm in the State. Allegations are being levelled against Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy that he was using the probe against his opponents within the party and shielding his supporters.
A dissident Minister, DL Ravindra Reddy, has gone to the extent of saying that the Chief Minister had made the Excise Minister a scapegoat as he belonged to the backward classes and was sparing his own caste people.
The Opposition parties have decided to corner the Government on the liquor scam in the Budget Session of the Assembly starting from Monday.
Meanwhile, the Excise Minister said that the truth about the liquor scam will come out soon. He denied that there was any political motivation behind the allegations against him.
The rapidly unravelling liquor scam is threatening the very stability of the Congress Government in Andhra as more and more politicians, including Ministers and other elected representatives were coming under the shadow of doubt as the Anti-Corruption Bureau was continuing its probe into the massive graft.
After Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkat Ramanna, it was now the turn of Road and Buildings Minister Dharmana Prasad Rao to face the allegations that his kin and a personal assistant also had their hands in the liquor pie.
The fresh revelations by the ACB that a liquor trader in Srikakulam admitted paying bribes to a relative and personal assistant of the Minister in exchange of protection to his illegal and irregular activities in the liquor trade has rattled the State Government.
Like the Excise Minister, Prasad Rao has also claimed innocence and found fault with the ACB for mentioning his name in the remand report on the basis of the statement of liquor syndicate kingpin Oruganti Eswara Rao.
While the liquor trader told the ACB that the liquor syndicate paid bribe to Minister’s nephew Venkat and personal assistant Appa Rao to the tune of Rs 39 lakh, the Minister told the reporters in Srikakulam that the allegations were false. “I have only one nephew and his name is Rahul,” he said. About his PA he said it was unlikely because he had a clean record.
However, the position of Prasad Rao was not as precarious as that of Mopidevi Venkat Ramanna as he was directly named in the remand report for being paid bribe of Rs 10 lakh by liquor trader Ramanna.
Like in the case of liquor syndicate in Khammam, where the name of the Excise Minister cropped up, and in Srikakulam where Minister for Road and Buildings has landed in trouble, the ACB investigations across the State have reportedly revealed the involvement of several other Ministers, MPs, MLAs and MLCs, many of them from the ruling party.
“The amount paid by liquor syndicates to the politicians, the officials and employees of Excise and Police department and media runs into hundreds of crores of rupees,” said a source familiar with the progress of the probe.
The ACB has so far arrested 19 people in 12 districts, including five inspectors, one sub inspector and one head constable of Excise department. The Government has also suspended assistant commissioner of Excise department in Guntur district after the allegations of taking bribe from the liquor syndicate.
According to the remand diary filed by the ACB in Visakhapatanam after its raids in Srikakulam district, the syndicate was paying a bribe of Rs 20,000 per month to a circle inspector of police, Prasad. The report also mentioned the names of several other Government officials, including RDO N Satyanarayana, Additional SP BDV Sagar, among the beneficiaries of the graft.
Surprisingly in the case of Hyderabad, which was the biggest centre of liquor trade in the State, the ACB has not arrested anybody so far. It has declared kingpin of the liquor syndicate Balraju Goud as absconding. Balraju, who has interests in the liquor trade in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar was politically strong and influential having close links with several politicians and Ministers.
The allegations that the liquor syndicate was paying bribes to at least nine Ministers and 80 other elected representatives have created a major political storm in the State. Allegations are being levelled against Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy that he was using the probe against his opponents within the party and shielding his supporters.
A dissident Minister, DL Ravindra Reddy, has gone to the extent of saying that the Chief Minister had made the Excise Minister a scapegoat as he belonged to the backward classes and was sparing his own caste people.
The Opposition parties have decided to corner the Government on the liquor scam in the Budget Session of the Assembly starting from Monday.
Meanwhile, the Excise Minister said that the truth about the liquor scam will come out soon. He denied that there was any political motivation behind the allegations against him.
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