Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned BRS party Tandur MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy, a key witness and complainant in the poachgate investigation on December 19 for questioning.
In response to the summons filed on him, Rohit Reddy stated that he will appear in front of the ED on December 19 to verify the content of the central agency’s notice.
Meanwhile, a local court recorded Rohit Reddy’s statement in connection with the poachgate case, which is being investigated by the Special Investigation Team, two days ago (SIT).
The agency also summoned Actor Rakul Preet Singh for questioning on the same date in a drug-related case.
Her statement was recorded by the ED in this connection last year too.
“The actress has been asked to appear before the investigating agency on December 19. Rakul Preet was questioned by the ED on September 2, 2021. Several Telugu actors were also questioned in the matter,” a source said.
The anti-money-laundering agency has been probing this drug trafficking and consumption case for the past four years after a high-end drugs cartel, supplying LSD and MDMA and other narcotics, was busted in 2017 by Telangana’s Prohibition and Excise department.
The present case are was lodged by the ED on the basis of that matter after it found that money of that drug cartel was laundered via various channels.
The ED notice was issued to the BRS party MLA in relation to the narcotics case, just days after he testified in court in the poachgate case.
Previously, Govindapura police detained a celebrity in Bangalore in connection with the drug case, and Rohit Reddy was accused of attending the party for a land deal.
On Tuesday, a magistrate recorded the MLA’s statement in response to a request from the special investigation team, which is looking into allegations that three BJP members—Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nanda Kumar, and Simhayaji Swami—tried to bribe Rohith Reddy and three other BRS MLAs into defecting to the BJP.
After a chargesheet is filed in the matter, a court will hear the MLA’s account about how he was allegedly contacted by three people and promised money.
Rohith Reddy is a director of Everest Infra Ventures (India) Private Limited. He began his political career with the now-defunct Praja Rajyam Party, which was founded by actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi.
(WIth inputs from IANS).
