HYDERABAD/VIJAYAWADA: TDP leader and Tadipatri municipal chairman JC Prabhakar Reddy and his son JC Ashmit Reddy were questioned by the Enforcement Directorate sleuths regarding the alleged purchase of scrap vehicles, illegal registration and operation and sale of some of them in violation of several laws and contrary to the Supreme Court verdict prohibiting the sale of BS III vehicles post April 1, 2017.
The father and son duo were questioned for nearly 9 hours by the ED sleuths in Hyderabad on Friday. Though reports emerged that the ED had summoned Prabhakar Reddy in connection with a money laundering case, no official confirmation was available.
Speaking to media persons after being questioned, Prabhakar Reddy described the ED office in Hyderabad as the right place for him to prove his innocence.
“This is not a scam involving crores of rupees, but a few trucks. I have answered all the questions of ED and will cooperate with them in their investigation,” he said. However, Prabhakar Reddy denied any connection with money laundering and said he does not have any need to do so.
Prabhakar Reddy and his son were arrested in June 2020 and sent to Kadapa Central Jail. The police had booked criminal cases against two companies owned by the father-son duo, their family members and close associates following a complaint from the transport department.
The cases are related to the activities of Jatadhara Industries owned by JC Uma Reddy, wife of Prabhakar Reddy, and his son Ashmit Reddy, and C Gopal Reddy & Co, owned by Gopal Reddy, a close associate of Prabhakar Reddy. The two companies had reportedly purchased vehicles sold as scrap by Ashok Leyland and got them registered in Nagaland in 2018 by producing fake documents. These vehicles were found to be plying in the Anantapur district.