BRS lodges complaint with ED on irregularities in paddy sale tenders

HYDERABAD

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has decided to send a 700-page dossier, a booklet with information collected by the party, to the investigating agencies such as Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, on the alleged scam in the paddy sale tenders last year.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday along with MLC Naveen Kumar Reddy and former Chairman of the State Civil Supplies Corporation Mareddy Srinivas Reddy, former minister for Civil Supplies and MLA Gangula Kamalakar and former MLA and another former Chairman of the Corporation Peddi Sudarshan Reddy said the functionaries of the elected government and authorities of the Corporation had a role in the tenders scam.

Alleging that the agencies that secured the tenders had collected ₹2,230 per tonne from the millers and shared it with the bigwigs in the government, they said they (BRS) had collected the details of bank accounts to which the illegal money had reached, amounting to money laundering. They stated that they had complained the matter to the ED along with the proof collected on Tuesday.

Stating that they were also lodging a complaint with the DRI and CBI with the same information, the BRS leaders said the silence of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the issue, which was being raised by BRS since last year, was raising suspicion about the ‘understanding’ the two parties have. They noted that ₹423 crore had reached some bank accounts illegally.

The BRS leaders mentioned that the High Court instructed the State government to file its counter in the case/petition filed by BRS but the government had failed to file the counter so far, indicating that there were irregularities in the tenders. They noted that the tenders were called to sell 35 lakh tonnes of paddy in 90 days.