Hyderabad: Fishes have disappeared into thin air from clear water. Magic or not, this was made possible at an event supervised by the fisheries department last year, during the term of the BRS government, an investigation by Deccan Chronicle has confirmed.
The revelation comes after the Sheep Scam of the Telangana State Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department during the BRS rule.
The fisheries department is held responsible for the missing fish accounts of last year’s fish prasadam distribution. A fraud of crores of rupees is suspected. A thorough probe by the government can help nail the guilty.
The Bathini family administering the fish prasadam for the past 174 years. Its beneficiaries are those suffering from bronchial ailments, who say they get relief from this simple ‘medication’.
On the day of Miragam last year, the family administered the fish prasadam as usual.
The state fisheries department arranges the sale of the fish that are used as a means of cure. Last year, counters were arranged separately for tokens and sale of fishes at the venue, Numaish, the exhibition ground in Nampally. These counters were the sole authorized fish sellers — or fish seed — during the event. Each fish kept there was sold for Rs 40.
The fisheries department now says they sold only 45,719 fish. Evidence by TV visuals and other means shows lakhs of people took the fish prasadam. However, the family itself admitted that they have administered the ‘fish treatment’ to around five lakh persons.
The Prasadam event started with a speech from Minister Talasani Srinivas, the then fisheries minister. He had taken care of the arrangements under the aegis of the BRS government.
Bathini Amarnath Goud explained to Deccan Chronicle, “Last year, around five lakh people took the fish Prasadam. These fishes were sold by the state fisheries department at the special stalls set up by the department that day.”
The practice, every year, is to have the fish swallowed by those suffering from bronchial ailments. It is shoved into their mouths.”
Deccan Chronicle has video evidence of Bathini Amarnath Goud stating in a social media post about the lakhs who received the Prasad.
When the DC correspondent met the general manager of TSFCOF, at his office, to do a fact-check, he said after checking the files that 45,719 fishes had been sold through special counters at the venue arranged by the department. Records also showed that 1.5 lakh fish (fish seed) were procured and an additional 50,000 were kept as a buffer stock. Each fish was sold for Rs 40, he said.
When asked what happened to the remaining fish, the general manager explained, “They died and the department threw them away. We gave around 10,000 fishes to the family.”
This year too, a similar arrangement was done and the number of fishes sold is expected this Saturday.
