Offered Rs 100 cr, threatened with cases; Pilot Rohit Reddy on MLAs poaching scam

HYDERABAD: The Cyberabad Police late on Wednesday night registered a case with regard to the alleged failed attempt to poach four TRS MLAs by offering hefty bribes at a farmhouse in Moinabad on the outskirts of the city. Based on a complaint lodged by Tandur TRS MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy, the FIR was filed under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120 (B) for criminal breach of trust.

Pilot Rohit Reddy, as per the copy of the FIR filed in a local court, claimed in his complaint that he was offered Rs 100 crores to join the BJP. He was also encouraged to engineer defections from the party by enticing more MLAs with a bribe of Rs 50 crore each. The Tandur MLA also alleged in his complaint that he was threatened with cases by ED and other Central agencies he did not take their offer.

According to Rohit Reddy's complaint, the first attempt to poach the TRS legislators started exactly a month ago, on September 26, 2022. This was when Ramachandra Bharati, Nandakumar and Simhayaji contacted him for the first time with their alleged nefarious designs. The accused persons negotiated with him to resign from the TRS and instead contest as a BJP candidate in the next elections.

Exactly a month later, they came to the farmhouse on October 26, 2022 (Wednesday night) to seal the deal with Rohit Reddy and three other TRS MLAs. As part of the deal, they were allegedly offered the bribe in exchange for their resignation from the TRS to join the BJP.

During their first contact in September, Rohit Reddy was also offered Central Government civil contracts and other high-level Central Government positions if he agreed to their proposition. In his complaint, Rohit Reddy also stated that if more MLAs were brought in, they would be paid Rs.50 crore each.

They also threatened him, saying that if he did not join the BJP, criminal charges would be filed against him and that ED/CBI raids would be conducted. They also warned of toppling the TRS-led Telangana government.

However, Pilot Rohit Reddy claimed in his complaint that he refused to entertain such unethical practices by Nanda Kumar, Ramachandra Bharti and Satish Sharma. But the trio contacted him again to finalise the deal and informed him that they were coming to meet him on Wednesday at his farm house in Aziz Nagar of Moinabad. They also asked him to mobilise other TRS MLAs by offering them Rs 50 crore each to join BJP.

The TRS MLA requested the Cyberabad Police to take action against the above individuals for allegedly offering him huge amounts in bribes to resign from TRS and join BJP.

According to reports, the Cyberabad Police have stepped up their investigation and seized the Moinabad farmhouse. An investigation was launched to determine who masterminded entire poaching scam targeting the TRS MLAs. The police were also looking into the call data of the phones of the three arrested.