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Vijayawada, November 3 (IANS) YSR Congress Party leader and former minister Jogi Ramesh and his brother Jogi Ramu were sent to judicial custody till November 13 by a court here on Monday in the spurious liquor case.
The Jogi brothers, who were arrested on Sunday, were produced before a magistrate at their residence early Monday.
After hearing the arguments on the police remand report, the magistrate passed the order at 5 am and sent both of them to judicial custody.
Later the police shifted him to Vijayawada jail.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the spurious liquor case arrested Jogi Ramesh early on Sunday from his residence in Ibrahimpatnam in NTR district. His brother Ramu was also taken into custody.
Jogi Ramesh and his brother were interrogated by the SIT for 12 hours at the Excise Department office in Vijayawada. Around midnight, he was taken to the government hospital for medical examination and later produced before the magistrate at his residence.
The former minister was questioned by the SIT on the basis of the statement of the main accused in the case, Adepalli Janardhana Rao, who alleged that the spurious liquor was manufactured under the instructions of Jogi Ramesh.
In a video that went viral last month, Janardhan Rao said that though he had stopped producing spurious liquor soon after the TDP-led NDA came to power, in April this year Jogi Ramesh called him and asked him to make spurious liquor.
The main accused also claimed that Jogi Ramesh had assured him that he would give him Rs 3 crore to open a distillery in Africa.
Janardhan Rao reportedly told the police that in 2023, when Jogi Ramesh was the minister, he started producing spurious liquor in Ibrahimpatnam. He said that before leaving for Africa, he had met Jogi Ramesh at his home in Ibrahimpatnam on September 23.
Jogi Ramesh’s arrest came a day after he filed a petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the sensational poisonous liquor case.
He alleged that the coalition government is deliberately trying to implicate him in this matter for political reasons. He said that the ongoing investigation by the state police is biased and politically influenced.
The YSRCP leader argued that only a central agency like CBI can conduct an impartial investigation. He requested the High Court to issue an order to transfer the investigation of the two FIRs lodged at Mulkalacheruvu and Bhavanipuram police stations to the CBI.
Ramesh also demanded that the CBI investigate his October 15 complaint, which he filed following the release of a recorded statement given by Janardhan Rao in police custody. He alleged that it seems that this video has been recorded under pressure.
YSRCP has condemned the arrest of Jogi Ramesh and called it illegal. Its president and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was accused of resorting to arrests to divert public attention from his and his party leaders’ involvement in the hooch issue.
–IANS
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