VIJAYAWADA: Evidence pertaining to a forgery case involving Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy was stolen from the Additional Judicial Magistrate Court-IV in Nellore city late on Wednesday. However, the incident came to light on Friday. The stolen property reportedly included some documents and a laptop.
Nellore district SP Ch Vijaya Rao visited the crime scene on Friday. Based on a court official’s complaint, Chinna Bazaar police registered a case under IPC sections 457 (house trespass, break in) and 380 (theft in dwelling house). While police are tight-lipped regarding probe in the case, it is learnt that six suspects have been detained.
In 2017, Kakani Govardhan Reddy alleged that TDP leader Somireddy Chandra Mohan Reddy, the then agriculture minister, had accumulated property worth thousands of crores abroad. He had also released some documents as evidence to his buttress his claim.
Later, Somireddy lodged a complaint stating that Kakani had forged the documents. A police investigation found that the documents were forged and a chargesheet was filed with these documents as evidence. The trial in the case is still in progress at the Additional Judicial Magistrate Court-IV.
Speaking to media, Somireddy accused Kakani of stealing evidence “as the latter knew punishment is imminent. It is perhaps the first time that evidence has been stolen from a court,” he said, wondering what security would the witnesses have if the courts themselves are not secure.
He urged the High Court to take note of the incident and cancel the bail of the accused in the case. Somireddy said he had filed civil and criminal defamation cases along with other criminal cases against Kakani Govardhan Reddy.