Former TDP MLA JC Prabhakar Reddy and his son JC Asmith Reddy were arrested in Hyderabad on Saturday, by the Anantapur police. Prabhakar Reddy has been accused of tampering with vehicle registration rules and fabricating documents and selling BS-III vehicles after registering them in the name of BS-IV vehicles.
Prabhakar Reddy is the younger brother of senior TDP leader and former MP JC Diwakar Reddy. Diwakar and Prabhakar run Jatadhara Company Travels or JC Travels.
According to police, Jatadhara Industries and Gopal Reddy & Co were involved in purchasing nearly 154 vehicles sold as scrap. The companies then allegedly illegally registered these vehicles in Nagaland by producing fabricated documents, and most of these vehicles are now in the rolls of AP state and are plying in Anantapur district.
The police say that Ashok Leyland has given them documents pertaining to 66 vehicles sold as scrap to these two entities.
Jatadhara Industries is jointly owned by JC Uma Reddy, who is the wife of Prabhakar Reddy, and their son Asmith. Gopal Reddy & Co belongs to Gopal Reddy, who is a close associate of Prabhakar, police claim.
Police said that these vehicles which are not road worthy were running, by using false documents to show that these vehicles were fit to ply on road. They acquired a fake No Objection Certificate, police said.
Out of the 154 vehicles, 101 vehicles were illegally registered in AP, while the remaining vehicles were registered in other states. In AP, so far 60 out of the 101 vehicles were seized, while the other 41 vehicles are yet to be traced. Police have also written to the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, to blacklist these 154 vehicles. A total of 24 criminal cases were registered in this scam.
According to reports, before the arrest, police had issued a notice to the former Tadipatri legislator.
Responding to their arrest, Vijayasai Reddy, the national General Secretary of YSRCP wrote, "The father-son duo believed that Hyderabad would be the safest shelter during lockdown. Now they are looking for a new bolthole to keep away themselves from being questioned by investigating agencies."
The father-son duo believed that Hyderabad would be the safest shelter during lockdown. Now they are looking for a new bolthole to keep away themselves from being questioned by investigating agencies.
— Vijayasai Reddy V (@VSReddy_MP) June 13, 2020
Meanwhile, the TDP has accused the ruling party of launching a witchhunt against its leaders.
Former TDP Minister K Atchannaidu was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday for his involvement in alleged corruption in procurement of medical supplies for ESI (Employees State Insurance) hospitals in the state during the previous TDP’s term.
TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh said that the "illegal" arrest was made to deflect attention from the arrest of Atchannaidu.