VIJAYAWADA: TDP politburo member Varla Ramaiah on Sunday urged DGP KV Rajendranath Reddy to personally monitor the investigation into the theft of documentary evidence related to a forgery case against Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy.
In a letter to the DGP, Ramaiah said there was a criminal conspiracy behind the evidence theft by breaking the locks of the fourth additional judicial magistrate court in Nellore. A discreet investigation was required considering the ‘threat’ being posed to the judiciary as a whole, he said.
The TDP leader reminded the DGP that a case was filed against Kakani in 2017 for forging documents in the name of Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, former minister. The case is pending in the fourth additional judicial magistrate court and all the evidence was housed in the court locker room, he said.
Ramaiah said on April 14, 2022, the court staff to their utter shock found the locker room broke open and documents, electronic gadgets and other evidence pertaining to the forgery case against Kakani were found stolen.
He said the theft of the evidence against Kakani, the main accused, from the court locker room within two to three days after he became a minister has raised many eyebrows. The entire episode appears to be a stage managed criminal conspiracy with mala-fide intentions, he suspected.
He expressed concern over deteriorating law and order in the State. Anti-social elements and criminals were being protected by the ruling YSRC. Stealing of evidence to escape from a crime has to be nipped in the bud. Or else such a modus operandi may turn into an escape mechanism for the accused facing case trials. A senior police officer should be deputed to probe the theft case, the TDP leader said.