A week after the arrest of red sanders smuggler Gangi Reddy, his wife on Saturday alleged that the Andhra Pradesh police had threatened her husband to confess to all the charges against him by the state at gunpoint.
"I met my husband in Kadapa jail a few days ago. He told me that that AP police put a gun to his head and told him to confess to the charges framed against him. I am afraid if he does not do so, they might eliminate him in a fake encounter. I have written a letter to governor E S L Narasimhan seeking protection for my husband from the AP cops. My husband is being framed. The TDP regime had in the past too made him an accused in the Alipiri blast case when an attempt was made on the life of the then CM Chandrababu Naidu in 2003. But the court acquitted him. This clearly shows the political motives of this regime" the Times of India quotes Gangi Reddy's wife Malavika as saying at a press conference.
Malavika was also quoted as saying that "The AP government and police have brought my husband Gangi Reddy from Mauritius intentionally. DGP J V Ramudu has claimed that Gangi Reddy is involved in 28 cases in AP but my husband is involved only in one or two cases. All the remaining cases were booked to harass him mentally and physically as he was a close associate of former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy."
Gangi Reddy is wanted in 27 red sander smuggling cases in the districts of Kurnool, Kadappa and Tirupati and has 20 cases of non-bailable arrest warrants pending against his name.
Gangi Reddy, who ran a red sanders smuggling racket in Chittoor, Nellore, Kurnool and Kadapa districts, was arrested in Mauritius in February following an Interpol red corner notice. Nine months after his arrest, he was brought to Hyderabad on Sunday by a team of police officials.
He is also an accused in the attack on chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at Alipiri in Chittoor in 2003.
Kollam is a native of Vathalur in Pullampet mandal in Kadapa district. A man known to have controlled extensive crime rackets in both AP and Telangana, police in both the states are hoping that he would lead them to cracking down on some big crime cartels.