Judicial custody of TDP legislator extended in cash-for-vote scam

A city court on Tuesday extended, till June 15, the judicial custody of TDP legislator A. Revanth Reddy and two other accused in the cash-for-vote scam even as the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) completed their interrogation.

The ACB produced Revanth Reddy, Sebastian Harry and Uday Simha in the court after questioning them for four days.

When the magistrate wanted to know how he was treated during the four-day custody, the legislator complained that he was not even provided with drinking water. He said basic facilities were provided after a complaint was lodged with senior officials.

Earlier, the ACB conducted searches at the residences of the accused in different parts of Hyderabad.

The investigating agency checked documents relating to bank accounts, lands and passports. Revanth Reddy's lawyer said the officials found nothing relating to the case.

The searches were conducted before dawn, hours before the questioning of the accused on the fourth day.

Revanth Reddy, a member of the Telangana legislative assembly, was arrested by the ACB on May 31 when he offered Rs.50 lakh to nominated member Elvis Stephenson to make him vote for TDP-BJP candidate in the elections to Telangana legislative council.

Revanth Reddy's aides were also arrested in the trap laid by ACB on a complaint by Stephenson.

During the questioning, the agency tried to elicit information from the accused about the source of Rs.50 lakh and also from where they planned to bring Rs.4.5 crore as part of the Rs.5 crore deal.

The agency also quizzed them with regard to the complicity of other political leaders in the scam.

The case took a dramatic turn on Sunday when an audio tape of an alleged telephonic conversation of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu with Stephenson surfaced.

While the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in Telangana said the audio tape proved that Naidu is the mastermind of the scam, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) denied that the voice on tape is Naidu's voice.

Meanwhile, the ACB has filed a petition in the court, seeking permission to question Stephenson in the case.