Andhra Pradesh

Dasari: I'm Bobbili Puli, not Boggu Puli

Express News Service

Claiming innocence in the allocation of coal blocks to the companies promoted by Congress MP Naveen Jindal, former Union minister of state for coal and Congress leader Dasari Narayana Rao on Wednesday said he had no role in coal block allocation scam.

The filmmaker-turned-politician, whose house in Hyderabad was raided by the CBI in connection with the coalgate scam on Tuesday, categorically stated that he was innocent.

“I have no role in it. Baseless allegations have been levelled against me. All the events are happening in a planned manner,” Narayana Rao said in a statement, released here on Wednesday.

Referring to reports in vernacular dailies on Wednesday, the film director said, “I am not a Boggu Puli (coal tiger) but a Bobbili Puli (Bobbili tiger).”

The reference was to the 1982 Telugu blockbuster, Bobbili Puli, directed by him starring the legendary NT Rama Rao, who later became the chief minister of the state.

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