Hyderabad, March 14 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC, Pochampally Srinivas Reddy, on Friday appeared before police in the case relating to rooster-fight betting in his farmhouse at Moinabad in Rangareddy district.
The MLC appeared before the Cyberabad police in response to the notice served on him.
During a raid on the MLC’s farmhouse in in Tolkatta village of Moinabad on February 11, Special Operations Team (SOT) and Moinabad police had found some people found betting on the rooster fight. The police had taken 64 people into custody.
The police had also seized 84 roosters, 46 knives used for rooster-fights, 46 betting coins, 55 cars and 64 mobile phones during the raid.
A case under Sections 3 and 4 of the TS Gaming Act and Section 11 of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act was registered at Moinabad Police Station. Srinivas Reddy, however, had denied involvement in the illegal activity.
He stated that the 10-acre land having mango and coconut groves and two rooms, was being looked after by his nephew Gyandev Reddy and that the garden area was leased to another person without his involvement.
Last month, the police issued a notice under Section 35 of the BNSS, asking him to give an explanation and to produce relevant documents.
Responding to the notice, the MLC clarified that he purchased the property in 2018, but his nephew, Gnanadev Reddy, had been managing it for him.
“Without my knowledge, Gnanadev Reddy leased the property to Varra Ramesh Kumar, who then transferred it to Venkatapathi Raju. I have no involvement in illegal activities. I have also lodged a complaint with the police, requesting action against the responsible persons,” he had said in his explanation.
The MLC handed over to police the documents relating to the lease. As the police had doubts about these documents, Srinivas Reddy was issued another notice directing him to appear before the investigating officer as soon as possible.
–IANS
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