Hyderabad Police detained former MLA T. Jayaprakash Reddy alias Jagga Reddy in a case relating to fraudulently obtaining passports here on Monday.
Jagga Reddy was taken into custody on Monday morning and was being questioned, police sources said.
“We got information that Jagga Reddy trafficked three persons from Hyderabad to America using passports secured on the names of his wife, daughter and son,” a police officer associated with the investigation of the case said.
The police officials recalled that the then legislators Soyam Bapurao and Kasipeta Lingaiah were arrested on similar charges nearly 14 years ago.
According to police sources, American government officials have the data of illegal immigrants from India. While reportedly analysing the data they stumbled upon details of the three persons, who managed to enter America with the passports acquired with fictitious data. On learning about it, Hyderabad Commissioner’s Task Force officials picked up Jagga Reddy and interrogated him for several hours.
It is learnt Task Force sleuths found some documents suggesting that some passports in the names of Jagga Reddy’s family members were obtained by presenting forged documents.
The investigators are verifying on confirmed reports that one male person and two women flew to America in 2004 along with Jagga Reddy.
However, while these three persons stayed back in America, Jagga Reddy had returned to Hyderabad eventually.
Sources said Jagga Reddy would be handed over to North Zone police of Hyderabad for further investigation on these charges against him.
When contacted, North Zone DCP B. Sumathi confirmed that the former Congress Whip was taken into custody. She said he also misused his official position to obtain passports and visas to the US.
Ms Sumathi said none of his ‘original’ family members had obtained passports.
“He obtained the passport by submitting forged documents and trafficked them to America,” she said. Meanwhile, TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said he would hold discussions with Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy late in the night.