Nellore: Police gears up to probe legislators

Nellore: The police seems to have collected sufficient evidence over the links of Nellore City and Rural legislators Dr P. Anilkumar Yadav and Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy with the bookies involved in cricket betting, going by the notices served to them to appear before the additional SP of Nellore on August 22 for examination into the case related to cricket betting.

Police has reportedly paid special attention to gather evidence against the legislators from the 27 bookies among the 115 arrested in the first round during the crackdown on the cricket betting mafia on August 3.

Sources said that police bigwigs took serious exception to Mr Sridhar Reddy’s threat to go on an indefinite fast before the police station on August 14 based on a news report that a YSRC legislator had received Rs 40 lakh from notorious smuggler Krishna Singh through him. Mr Sridhar Reddy said he would be left without any alternative but to resort to an indefinite fast if the police failed to reveal the name of the legislator since people were certain to suspect him. He dropped the proposed fast after the police said that they didn’t have evidence against any legislator.

It is learnt that the police was initially not taking seriously the roles of the people’s representatives in the betting though some bookies had dropped their names during the interrogation but the posture of the legislator led them to go deep into their connections.

In the case of Dr Anilkumar Yadav, a bookie is said to have told the police that he had paid election funds to the legislator. However his close relative and YSRC leader Roopkumar Yadav, who was also held by police, clarified to the investigation officers that it was a false statement.