VIJAYAWADA: Describing Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy as the mastermind behind the ‘hawala transactions’, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday demanded his ouster from the State Cabinet. He sought all the details pertaining to `5.27 crore seized by Tamil Nadu police, including for whom the cash was being transported illegally and their relationship with Balineni.
Addressing a meeting of TDP senior leaders, Naidu said the Enforcement Directorate should conduct a detailed inquiry into ‘hawala transactions’ that took place in AP in the past 14 months to bring out the facts. Bullion merchants usually carry cheques or DDs, but not hard cash to buy gold in Chennai. It should be verified whether the arrested persons were staff of the bullion merchant or Balineni’s followers. According to reports making rounds, Balineni’s son was one of the two, who fled the scene after the cash was seized. “Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy owes a clarification to the people of the State on all these aspects,” Naidu said.
Accusing the police of applying different sets of rules for YSRC and opposition leaders, he said several TDP leaders were falsely implicated in cases and at the same time no action was taken against the ruling party leaders though they were caught with adequate evidence. Former ministers K Atchannaidu and Kollu Ravindra were arrested in false cases. But Balineni has not yet been arrested in the `5.27 crore hawala scam.