KHAMMAM: CPI leaders Puvvada Nageswara Rao and Bhagam Hemantha Rao have strongly denied the accusations of Nunna Venkata Ramana, a liquor merchant, that bribes were offered to them.
Venkata Ramana, who runs 29 liquor shops in the district, had told officers of the AntiCorruption Bureau that Nageswara Rao collected `10,000 from each of his shops every month.
Speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday, Nageswara Rao, a former MLC, asserted that he had not taken any money from the liquor merchant and said he was ready to face an inquiry. He said he had issued receipts whenever he collected party fund when he served as secretary of the district unit of the party.
Incumbent secretary Bhagam Hemantha Rao said Nunna Venkata Ramana donated `2 lakh to the party fund and a receipt was issued for the amount on the same day. The money was credited to the party account, he claimed.
Meanwhile, Sattupalli MLA Sandra Venkata Veeraiah of Telugu Desam said that he had been opposed to liquor mafia from the beginning and that he was the one who proposed at a District Development Review Committee (DDRC) meeting setting up of a committee on liquor syndicates in the district. He too denied that he had taken money from anyone relating to liquor sale. "I am ready to face any inquiry,'' he said.