Telangana police on 2 March arrested five persons for conspiring to murder the state's Excise and Tourism Minister V Srinivas Goud. The accused were arrested from the servant quarters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader AP Jithender Reddy's New Delhi residence.
Both Goud and Reddy hail from Mahbubnagar district and are political rivals.
M Stephen Raveendra, Cyberabad Commissioner of Police, said in a press conference held on 2 March that Reddy's associates, Madhusudan Raju and Amarender Raju, had offered Rs 15 crore as supari to the other accused. Both the Rajus are currently under arrest.
The police have recovered a 9 mm pistol, a country-made revolver and two live rounds from the accused.
What Was the Alleged Conspiracy?
The recent arrests are based on a complaint which was lodged at Pet-Basheerabad police station on 25 February. The complainants were Farooq and Hyder Ali.
According to Commissioner of Police Raveendra, the BJP MP's Personal Assistant (PA) Raju had allegedly contacted Farooq to take his help in "killing" the minister. Farooq, however, informed the plan to his friend Hyder Ali.
The police say that Raju wanted to allegedly "eliminate" Farooq and Ali who could leak their "assassination plan." Raju's associates – Yadaiah, Nagaraju and Vishwanath – then allegedly followed Farooq and Ali on 25 February to "eliminate" them. The trio were carrying knives with them, the police alleged.
Farooq and Ali, however, escaped and lodged the complaint on the same day.
Meanwhile, others involved in the alleged conspiracy, Manuru Ravi, Madhusudhan Raju, Raghavender Raju and Amarender Raju were provided shelter at the BJP leader's residential quarters. The leader's PA Raju allegedly arranged this stay.
"The role of the former MP (BJP leader) in the conspiracy is still being probed. But, his personal assistant Raju and driver Thapa provided shelter to the other accused in the case," said Raveendra. While the police arrested five persons on 2 March, the BJP leader's PA Raju is yet to be arrested.
The Telangana police said that the plan was to "assassinate the minister." "We have all the proof to back this," Stephen Raveendra said.
The case is expected to stoke a political storm in Telangana, as the ruling TRS and the BJP have been at loggerheads with each other. The TRS has been attempting to forge a national front to work against the BJP in Lok Sabha elections 2024.
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