Bharatiya Janata Party leaders received a rude jolt on Tuesday with the Siddipet police, whom it accused of planting money to implicate its candidate Raghunandan Rao in Dubbak by-election in a false case, releasing video clips of seizing the money.
Controversy erupted on Monday after police seized ₹18.67 lakh from the house of Surabhi Anjan Rao, a close relative of Mr. Raghunandan Rao. While BJP leaders charged that police planted money in Mr. Anjan Rao’s house to falsely implicate Mr. Raghunandan Rao, TRS leaders responded saying it was case of pot calling the kettle black.
The allegations and counter charges continued till late in the night with TV channels airing visuals of a policeman carrying a bag of cash and some BJP activists snatching away part of the cash seized from the police. On Tuesday, Siddipet police released three video clips substantiating their claim that they genuinely seized the money from Mr. Anjan Rao’s house.
The video footage showed police seizing a total sum of ₹18.67 lakh from Mr. Anjan Rao’s house. “Our police teams accompanied local Mandal Revenue Officer who went to Anjan Rao’s house. The cash was seized from that house and even Anjan Rao signed the panchanama report,” Siddipet Police Commissioner Joel Davis told The Hindu over phone.
The Commissioner said that Mr. Anjan Rao claimed that the money was sent to him by a person called Jitende Rao. “The audio of the video footage was not clear but Anjan Rao suggested that the money was meant for Dubbaka by-election and supposed to be distributed in small amounts,” Mr. Davis said.
On learning about the cash, several BJP activists gathered outside Mr. Anjan Rao’s house and some entered the house premises. When the MRO and police personnel were stepping out of the house, screaming BJP workers surrounded the authorities, overpowered them and snatched away part of the seized cash.
Later, police realised that BJP workers took away ₹12.80 lakh of the seized money. The remaining sum of ₹5.87 lakh was still with the police. Two criminal cases were registered in connection with the currency seized and the subsequent snatching of the money.
A case of alleged influence and bribery was registered following seizure of the money. The second case was booked over snatching of the money. Five persons were already arrested by the police in connection with snatching money. Police suspect that 20 persons were involved in the money snatching incident. Others are being identified.
