The Cyberabad police said that Rs 40 lakh in cash that was seized earlier this week at Hyderabad’s Shamirpet, was allegedly connected to senior BJP leader Raghunandan Rao, who is the party’s Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) candidate for the upcoming Dubbak bye-elections.
The Cyberabad police said that they intercepted two vehicles near Shamirpet on October 5, acting on specific inputs that the cars could be carrying money to lure voters. Four people were detained and police said that upon questioning, they claimed that they were followers of a BJP leader and that the money was being taken to Siddipet district. The police said that when the accused saw the personnel checking vehicles, they turned their cars and headed towards Medchal but were caught near the Outer Ring Road (ORR).
Three of the men were identified as Srinivas Babu, Anjaneyulu and Majoid Hussain, from Patancheru in Sangareddy district, while one, Pullayyagari Suresh, hailed from Mehdipatnam in Hyderabad. Balanagar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) PV Padmaja said that along with Rs 40 lakhs, five cell phones and two vehicles were seized.
The voting scheduled to be held on November 3, was necessitated by the death of sitting Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy. The ruling party has nominated his wife, Sujata, to contest for the seat.
The Telangana police are keeping a tight vigil on the routes leading to Dubbak constituency, in view of the model code of conduct imposed by the State Election Commission (SEC). TNM tried to reach out to BJP's Raghunandan Rao but is yet to get a response.