Hyderabad:
For the first time, CBI joint director V.V. Laxminarayana in Hyderabad, is revealing the sort of pressure he's facing as he investigates cases against the rich and the powerful in the South, including politician Jagan Mohan Reddy.
In a six-page letter to the local police, Mr Laxminarayana has said that a systematic effort is being made to demoralize him. Last week, Sakshi TV and its newspaper, both owned by Mr Reddy, made public his cellphone records. The CBI officer says that clearly violated his privacy.
The Central Crime Station has registered a case against Sakshi media house for criminal conspiracy and other violations of the law.
Mr Reddy was arrested on May 27 and has been in jail ever since. The CBI alleges that Jagan's father, YSR Reddy, used his term as chief minister to push companies to invest in Jagan's business empire. In return, they were granted licenses and other clearances. YSR died while in office in 2009. His son quit the Congress after that, and founded his own party, the YSR Congress.
Sakshi reports alleged that Mr Laxminarayana was leaking details of his investigation against Mr Reddy to Vasireddy Chandrabala, a former techie who is now a social worker. Sakshi believes she in turn, was passing on the information received from the CBI to a rival local media house, to fuel a public smear campaign against Mr Reddy.
Ms Chandrabala has also filed a police complaint over Sakshi's decision to publicly share his and her call records. She has said the "act intended to insult the modesty of a woman" and spread alarming rumours.
The police have also received a complaint from Mr Reddy's mother, Vijayamma, who is serving as honorary president of the YSR Congress while her son is in jail. She has written to the state's Director General of Police Dinesh Reddy that the CBI Joint Director had been divulging information about the ongoing investigation of the case against her son to a section of the media. An inquiry is needed, she said.