Venkattram Reddy, 2 others released

Hyderabad: T. Venkattram Reddy, who was detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) late on Tuesday night, was released on Wednesday after a court rejected the arguments of the ED.

Reddy, along with two others, P.K. Iyer and auditor Mani Oommen, was detained on Tuesday night but released on Wednesday after metropolitan sessions judge S. Premavathi rejected the ED’s plea for remand.

The three of them were released after the judge took into consideration the arguments put forth by K. Ashok Reddy, counsel for Venkattram Reddy.

Counsel Ashok Reddy refuted and rejected the ED's contention that Reddy and others did not cooperate with the investigation and that they might tamper with the evidence if they were released.

“The case was registered eight years ago. He has been promptly responding to all summons and attending before the agency whenever called,” Ashok Reddy said, adding that there was no justification for the rushed ED action.

Maintaining that the charges of tampering with evidence were uncalled for, counsel argued that the two investigating agencies already had custody of all material and documentary evidence.

The team of counsels, which included Arcot Chandrasekhar, Krutika Raghavan and Sameeksha Patil, took objection to the ED not producing any evidence in support of its claims.