HYDERABAD: The Molila police of the Cyberabad commissionerate and excise officials on Saturday night conducted a joint raid on a farmhouse owned by Raj Pakala, a brother-in-law of BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao, at Janwada on the outskirts of Hyderabad. During the raid, they arrested a person, who tested positive for consuming cocaine, and seized 12 bottles of foreign liquor and non-duty paid liquor.
Pakala, who was present at the farm house till the early hours of Sunday, according to the police, went missing in the afternoon despite heavy police presence. Sources said he visited a private hospital on Sunday morning and went out of reach of the police.
Though police claimed that the attendees were indulged in gambling, and that plastic chips used in casinos were found, there was no mention of seizure of cash in the FIR.
The police and excise personnel were acting on a tip-off that a party was underway at Pakala’s farmhouse in which foreign liquor and banned substances were being served.
The arrested person was identified as Vijay Madduri, the CEO of Pakala’s ETG Software and who also runs the software firm Fusion Aix. The police booked Pakala for providing space to Vijay for consuming the drug.
While police confirmed that Rama Rao’s wife Shailima was present during the raid, they were ascertaining whether the former IT minister had attended the party and left before the raid.
The raid kicked off a political storm with the Congress and the BJP demanding that the police subject Rama Rao to a narco test, accusing him of abetting peddlers besides consuming drugs.
The BRS hit back, terming the raid as politics of vendetta and a cheap tactic of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to divert people’s attention from his failure on delivering poll promises.
A day-long high drama was witnessed at a gated community in Raidurg where Rama Rao and his two brothers-in-law reside in separate villas, when BRS legislators and workers prevented excise officials from entering residences of Raj and his brother Sailendra Pakala.
Coming out of political hibernation, former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is learnt to have dialled Director General of Police Dr Jitender and questioned the rationale behind searches in the villas. Party sources said he wanted the police to immediately stop the “witch hunt”. The Congress found fault with the conduct of Chandrashekar Rao, who, they said, had not reacted on people’s issues all these days but had come out to save his kin.
Rama Rao, addressing the media on Sunday night claimed that it was not a farmhouse but the residence of Raj Pakala. He wondered if police or excise permission was needed for a family gathering on the eve of Diwali.
It was stated that Pakala, who had recently held the house-warming ceremony for his farmhouse with an estimated built up area of 30,000 sq ft, had thrown a party for top guns from politics and business.
Earlier, the joint teams reached the venue with sniffer dogs and drug test kits. The police suspected that gambling had been held at the venue. Besides, locals complained about loud music being played at the farmhouse using DJ systems into the late hours.
Police subjected all the 22 men who were present at the party to undergo narco tests. Except Vijay Madduri, all the rest tested negative. The 16 women present at the party refused to undergo the test.
According to the FIR, Vijay Madduri confessed to the police that he and Pakala would party regularly on weekends, and, according to his claim as stated by the police, together consume drugs and indulge in gambling using poker coins. He reportedly said Pakala extended an invitation for a “Diwali party” and offered cocaine during the party.
Police made farmhouse manager K. Karthik as the first accused and Raj Pakala as the second accused in a case booked under the NDPS Act, and the Telangana Gaming Act.
During investigation it was found that Pakala hadn’t obtained an excise licence and a case was registered against him under the Excise Act by the excise task force. “We are probing the case to track the cocaine peddler and the supplier,” a senior police official said.
Excise joint commissioner S.Y. Qureshi clarified that Pakala was not in their custody and that special teams were trying to arrest him for investigation. “It is a matter of only `9,000 to obtain a licence to serve liquor. Consumption of liquor from other states is banned as per excise laws,” an excise officer said.
Following the raids, the residents of Reserve Colony complained about frequent noise pollution caused by digital DJ systems during parties organised in Janwada.
M. Giridhar Rao, a resident, said despite several complaints on noise pollution and disturbance at night and the early hours caused by the DJ systems, police were not attending to the issue as the premises belonged to Rama Rao’s brother-in-law.
Providing details, V.B. Kamalasan Reddy, director of enforcement, prohibition and excise department, said that a joint operation was conducted by the excise department and the special operations team of Rajendranagar at the farmhouse, where 22 men and 16 women were present. The personnel seized bottles of imported liquor, IMFL and beer from the premises.
“During investigation we found that Raj Pakala hosted the event at his farmhouse without taking event permission from the excise department and non-duty paid liquor was served in the unauthorisedly conducted event,” he said,
“Both these violations are offences under TG Excise Act, 1968. We registered a case under Crime No. 92 of 2024,” Kamalsan Reddy said.
