Andhra Pradesh High Court objects to transfer of IPS officer who was probing liquor mafia

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has come to the rescue of the liquor syndicate probe in the state. Less than two weeks after Indian Police Service (IPS) officer K Srinivas Reddy who was heading the special investigation team was transferred out, in a major embarrassment for the state government, the court has asked it to reconsider the transfer and inform the court by next Friday, saying honest and upright officers should be given confidence and security of tenure in public interest.

The court said there seems to be no basis for the transfer which happened despite objections raised by the Anti-Corruption Bureau chief, and has said court permission must be sought before transferring officials.

For the last few months, Mr Reddy's team had focused on exposing a brazen liquor syndicate that had gained power across the state thanks to patrons that include police officers and politicians. He has a sterling reputation in Andhra Pradesh as an upright police officer.

Mr Reddy has been moved to the coastal security wing. The official reason cited was that he had been promoted. His batch-mate Shivdhar Reddy, was announced as his replacement.

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Sources stated that Srinivas Reddy's boss, Bhoopathi Babu, who heads the Anti-Corruption Bureau fought hard against the transfer. When it was clear his campaign was futile, he asked that Srinivas Reddy not be moved at least till today, when the High Court holds a hearing on a Public Interest Litigation that seeks to unravel the inner workings of the liquor mafia.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Bureau today submitted its report on the liquor syndicates case in a sealed cover to the court. The court then said that the Anti-Corruption Bureau can approach the court for any directions and that the government must support an independent probe by honest, upright officers in public interest.

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Noting the contents of the status report on the probe, submitted by the Anti-corruption Bureau, the court said the Income-Tax department must probe how crores of rupees were put up in the name of whitecard holders, belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. At least 57 per cent shops in Vizianagaram and 61 per cent shops in Srikakulam are said to be benami. Pradesh Congress Committee chief and state transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana hails from Vizianagaram and has admitted at least 31 shops are owned by his relatives.

Earlier, notices in the case had been issued to the chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, fellow Congressman Botsa Satyanarayana, excise minister Mopidevi Venkatramana and the leader of the opposition Telugu Desam Party, Chandrababu Naidu.

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But Srinivasa Reddy's transfer may be due to the new political rapprochement arranged between the chief minister and Mr Satyanarayana, who were summoned to Delhi by their party recently and told to end their bickering.

Mr Satyanarayana has not fared well in the anti-corruption bureau's investigation. He recently admitted that 31 liquor outlets in his home district of Vizianagaram were owned by his relatives. In the same district, between September 2010 and December 2011, excise officials are said to have received bribes of upto Rs. 3.58 crores.

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The crackdown and raids on liquor outlets, excise officials and others over the last few weeks has put the focus on several ministers and many more law-makers or MLAs, both in the ruling party and outside, who are said to be linked to the liquor syndicate in the state.

Mr Satyanarayana said he was willing to surrender the licences and that his family members would not participate in future auctions for liquor licenses.

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 In February, excise minister Mopidevi Venkatramana was accused of having accepted a bribe from a liquor syndicate representative. That led to demands for his resignation.

Investigations have revealed that several politicians and police officers were being regularly paid 'protection money' which they in turn invested in the liquor business. As the mafia and those who assisted it racked up profits, the government incurred huge losses. Liquor was being sold in the black market, at prices far above the maximum rates permitted, and without any duty being paid to the government.

Earlier this month, the Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested a pointsman in the liquor syndicate. Balaraj Goud, who was absconding since January after his alleged involvement in a bribery case, was caught on his way to Kolkata. Mr Goud, according to investigators, has worked his way up the mafia ladder to emerge as a sort of a liquor don. He allegedly owns seven bars and restaurants and 28 wine shops in and around Hyderabad. Mr Goud is said to have confessed that 75 per cent of the liquor in Andhra Pradesh is sold without the government receiving due taxes.