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Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), November 2 (IANS) YSR Congress Party leader and former Andhra Pradesh minister Jogi Ramesh was arrested on Sunday in the spurious liquor case.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case arrested him from his residence in Ibrahimpatnam in NTR district. His associate Arepalli Ramu was also arrested.
Ramesh was taken to the Excise Department office in Vijayawada, where he was being interrogated by SIT officials.
Adepalli Janardhana Rao, the main accused in the case, alleged that the spurious liquor was manufactured on the instructions of Ramesh.
In a video that went viral last month, Janardhan Rao said that, though he had stopped manufacturing spurious liquor soon after the TDP-led NDA came to power, Ramesh called him in April this year and asked to continue manufacturing.
The main accused also claimed that Ramesh had assured him of Rs 3 crore to open a distillery in Africa.
Janardhan Rao reportedly told the police that in 2023, when Ramesh was a minister, he started producing spurious liquor in Ibrahimpatnam. He said that before leaving for Africa, he had met Ramesh at his home in Ibrahimpatnam on September 23.
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 spurious liquor case.
He alleged that the coalition government was deliberately trying to implicate him in the case for political reasons, and described the ongoing investigation by the state police as partisan 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.
Both TDP and YSRCP are accusing each other of poisonous liquor. YSRCP leaders have alleged that TDP leaders are running a big racket.
The opposition party had last week lodged a complaint with the Director General of Police, alleging a politically motivated IVRS campaign by the ruling coalition to divert public attention from its involvement in the alleged illicit liquor racket that has surfaced in Andhra Pradesh.
–IANS
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