Former YSRCP MLA and key accused in AP Liquor Scam Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy has sent out his close aide Pradyumna to Dubai to escape from SIT probe. The SIT is now trying to bring him back.
Pradyumna, a resident of Ongole, who was a pawn in the liquor scam worth thousands of crores during the YSRCP regime and claimed the liquor bribe money as his own, fled to Dubai on the advice of Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy. SIT found that on June 3, Pradyumna went to Tirupati from Hyderabad and met Chevireddy there. Chevireddy had instructed him to go to Dubai, saying that if he was caught by the SIT, he would be arrested.
The SIT has concluded that Pradyumna was sent there after promising that he would take care of all the necessary arrangements. After the meeting with Chevireddy, it was confirmed that Pradyumna switched off her phone and fled. A lookout notice was issued against him.
On May 9 last year, during the general elections, the police seized Rs. 8.36 crore cash at the Garikapadu check post in NTR district. At that time, a case was registered at the Chillakallu police station, but no one claimed it. The case was registered and later, everything was forgotten about it.
Otherwise, it was found to be the bribe money collected by Raj Kasireddy’s team from liquor distilleries and supply companies during the YSRCP regime. Chevireddy was bringing this money from Hyderabad to AP through his men to distribute to YSRCP candidates during elections.
Chevireddy, who wanted to get back the money somehow, brought in Pradyumna, a real estate businessman from Ongole who was close to him. Pradyumna wrote a letter to the Income Tax Department late last year, claiming that the money seized at the Garikapadu check post was his and that this money was obtained through the mango business.
He said that he would submit evidence and that his money should be returned to him. The Income Tax Department did not respond to this letter. In the context of the SIT’s inquiry into liquor bribery, it was revealed that the Rs. 8.36 crore seized at the Garikapadu check post was liquor money.
If the money really belonged to Pradyumna, why did he not claim it immediately after being caught? Why did he file a petition in the High Court after almost 11 months? The SIT inquired in depth into the issues. Sensing this, Chevireddy secretly sent Pradyumna to Dubai. It may be recalled that on the 17th of the same month, Chevireddy too was caught by the SIT officers while fleeing to Sri Lanka.
