Ponnam Prabhakar Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
Minister for Transport Ponnam Prabhakar has served a legal notice on BRS MLA from Huzurabad Padi Kaushik Reddy as well as a Telugu newspaper and a TV channel accusing them of “tarnishing” his image and levelling “baseless allegations” on the transport of fly ash from the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ramagundam.
The notice was served to Kaushik Reddy; T News managing director Joginapally Santosh Kumar; Namaste Telangana newspaper editor Tigulla Krishnamurthy, Telangana Publication Pvt. Ltd., and Telangana Broadcasting Pvt. Ltd.
The notice sent by advocate E. Poornachander Rao demanded unconditional apology from the MLA for tarnishing the Minister’s image with false accusations and also prominently publishing the apology in the newspaper and the television channel. The notice said that the allegations made by the MLA were circulated without checking the veracity and to damage the Minister’s reputation.
Mr. Kaushik Reddy had earlier alleged that Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar was engaged in the illegal transportation of fly ash from NTPC Ramagundam and making ₹50 lakh illegally with the lorries carrying more than the permitted capacity. He had claimed that the Minister’s nephew Anup was engaged in collecting the money.
Mr. Kaushik Reddy further claimed that he had intercepted 13 trucks that were carrying fly ash more than the permitted capacity but the transport department had seized only two trucks. The remaining were released after the Minister intervened and called the officials concerned. He had also claimed that he possessed phone call recordings and challenged the Minister for a debate on the allegations.
However, Congress leaders from the erstwhile Karimnagar district had refuted the MLA’s claims and also accused him of misleading the people with false allegations. They claimed that NTPC was responsible for transportation of the ash and there were no trucks in the country that could carry the massive tonnes of fly ash being carried as alleged by Mr. Kaushik Reddy.
