AP: Excise officials lend crores to liquor mafia

Recent searches conducted by the Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths on the liquor syndicates in the state have brought to light the deep nexus between unscrupulous businessmen and excise department officials with ACB officials finding that many excise officials were extending loans running into lakhs of rupees to liquor syndicates.

The searches were conducted in 22 places in Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, Warangal and Hyderabad for two days from January 27 and relevant records were seized for further investigation, the ACB said in a release on Sunday.The ACB had registered criminal cases against the eleven syndicate leaders on January 25 based on scrutiny reports on the data gathered from searches that took place in December 2011.“The scrutiny reports running into about 750 pages contain hundreds of entries relating to payment of bribes to different persons,” the release said adding, “Many officials of the Excise department were totally involved in arranging finance for liquor syndicates in addition to accepting bribes on a recurrent basis from the traders.” The documents recovered during searches revealed that in one instance some excise officials in their personal capacity had given a loan to the tune of Rs2.44 crore to just one leader of the syndicate during 2011.One head constable alone was learnt to have given Rs53 lakh loan.This is also the first time liquor traders have been arrested on corruption charges on the ground that one who bribes officials is equally punishable. The 11 liquor traders and eight excise officials arrested were remanded to judicial custody.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

‘I waited three years for this baby’

The startling way in which a 40-year-old US woman decided to fight for a passport for her baby, born to a surrogate mother through IVF, has kicked up a lot of questions on bureaucratic confusion on surrogacy laws. J Pearllinda Vanburen is married to a Jamaican national, rented a womb from a Hyderabadi woman and used the eggs donated by a woman from Rajahmundry. But when even a month and half after her son Emperor Kaioyus Vanburen was born, she failed to get a passport for him, she resorted to the extreme step of leaving her baby at the Regional Passport Office here. Her method may have shed light on her situation but has far from eased official confusion on giving passport for the baby. 

Q. Why did you prefer India to get a surrogate child?  

A. It was my dream, not only to get a surrogate baby, but also to get one from India, which has a good culture. Besides, the expenses involved here is considerably low. We spent around $25,000 (around Rs 10 lakh).

Q. Your move to abandon the baby at the RPO has provoked doubts on your relationship with the child... 

A. I do not bother about allegations. I want to take my child back to my country. I just tried to protest and explain to the passport officials about the plight of a baby without his mother. Besides I only acted like I had left my baby.  

Q. Have you got any assurances from the officials? 

A. No, I have not. I applied for passport last Thursday. My husband Eric Dalton Green is waiting to see the baby at home. But the passport officials just ask me to come some other day each time.  

Q. But what reasons do the officials give for the delay? 

A. They say they have some doubts. I brought semen samples from my husband, who is a Jamaican national and used the eggs from another woman in the state. The baby was delivered by a Hyderabadi woman whose womb was rented. The officials are in confusion regarding this. I came to the city in October 2009 and met doctors at Dr. Rama’s Institute for Fertility for the baby. It took me three years to get my child and now they do not give me a passport.

Q. Do you hope to get the passport soon, now that your case is out in the open? 

A. Yes, I am confident. The passport officials here have faxed the details to the ministry of external affairs seeking advice on how to proceed. I am sure they will come up with a solution soon.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

OMC mining case: The bail is in CBI Court

Y Srilakshmi, Senior IAS Officer

While investigating major scams, involving crores of rupees of public money, and with the arrest of prominent persons, including a minister and two public servants, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also ran into a number of bail pleas filed by the accused. The agency, while investigating the cases on one hand, ended up fighting all these bail petitions on the other.The CBI is investigating three major cases currentlythe Obulapuram mining case involving former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy, Emaar irregularities involving Koneru Prasad, chairman of the Trimex group and Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's illegal assets case.In the three cases, the CBI arrested six persons: Gali Janardhan Reddy, his brotherinlaw BV Srinivas Reddy, IAS officer Y Srilakshmi and former vicechairman and managing director of APMDC VD Rajgopal, Koneru Prasad of Emaar Properties and V Vijay Sai Reddy of Jagathi Publication.The special CBI court granted bail to Y Srilakshmi and V D Rajgopal. Srilakshmi was granted bail on the grounds of illhealth and special consideration extended to a woman, while Rajgopal got bail because of his 34 years of track record as a public servant and also on health grounds. However, the CBI court reserved Rajgiopal's bail order soon after it was granted when the CBI opposed the bail.The case is still is pending in the High Court. Srilakshmi filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court after the AP High Court dismissed the local court's bail order and she was asked to surrender before the court by January 6. The CBI is likely to file caveat in the Supreme Court challenging Srilakshmi's special leave petition.The key accused in OMC case, Gali Janardhan Reddy and his brotherinlaw B V Srinivas Reddy have filed a petition seeking bail before the CBI court for the fifth time. The previous four petitions were dismissed by the court when the CBI said that the accused were highly influential and they may influence witnesses if they were let off on bail.The CBI court posted the hearings on the fifth bail petition to January 11. The accused mentioned several grounds in their respective petitionsthe CBI has submitted the chargesheet already in connection with the OMC case, their family members are facing various problems etc. Earlier, the accused filed a petition seeking escort bail for twodays on December 31 and January 1 to attend the death anniversary of Janardhan Reddy's mother , which the court dismissed.Koneru Prasad filed three bail petitions, including an interim bail of seven days for his pilgrimage to Sabarimala. While granting interim bail, the CBI court dismissed one bail petition of Prasad and hearings on the fresh petition are going on. Koneru sought bail on the grounds of illhealth, as he is suffering from fits.He also submitted some medical documents issued by hospitals on his health condition. Meanwhile, Gali Janardhan Reddy, B V Srinivas Reddy, V D Rajgopal and Koneru Prasad were granted special rooms by the CBI court as per the AP Prisons Act.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

Killer arrack had traces of methys alcohol

Even as state officials have identified methyl alcohol in samples of the killer arrack that took 18 lives in Mylavaram in Krishna district, seven more fell sick and were hospitalised on Monday. Of those admitted in hospitals in the last two days, two have lost their eyesight and are in a critical condition. Officials testing samples of arrack which unleashed a wave of deaths in Mylavaram mandal found traces of methyl alcohol in it and believe it to be the cause of the tragedy. Officials also identified as many as nine firms, located in Kondapally locality in Vijayawada, that manufacture the methyl alcohol which was supplied to tribal thandas where illegal arrack is prepared. The firms, whose licences were expiring within a couple of months are unlikely to get renewals, officials said. “We have identified as many as nine firms involved in manufacture of methyl alcohol in Kondapalli. The methyl alcohol that the tribals had used in distilling the arrack was found to have been manufactured by these companies,” a senior official in Excise department told Express. The health conditions of consumers of the arrack depends upon the amount of liquor that was consumed, Andhra Hospital physician Dr Murali told Express. Of the 19 undergoing treatment at the hospital, some are out of danger while others like Banavathu Balu (35) and Bhukya Reddy (30) have lost their eyesight. Of the seven hospitalised Monday, five - Kolusu Nageswara Rao (55), Kolusu Koteswara Rao (60), Kolusu Satyanarayana (44), Kaviti Koteswara Rao (35) and Kandula Rama Rao (50) are from Edurubedem thanda, near Kanimerla thanda and two - Ambothu Erja (50) and Bhukya Reddy (30) from Poratanagar thanda. Meanwhile, higher officials have decided to form additional teams to prevent proliferation of arrack units. P V Sunil Kumar, director of the Enforcement Wing of Excise department said that five teams were formed to identify spurious arrack making units.

By Mouli Mareedu/ P Laxma Reddy

moulimareedu@gmail.com

Tollywood's tryst with traffic on New Year

Posing as traffic cops, director SS Rajamouli with wife Rama regulated the traffic snarls between 10:30 pm and 2 am at the Jubilee Hills Check-post, besides distributing ‘No drinking and driving’ pamphlets. They spent around four hours participating in the traffic regulation programme, which was initiated by the Vaada Foundation, an NGO. The couple also celebrated their new year with the city traffic police at the junction by cutting a cake. Given the hectic rush on account of the New Year, the Jubilee Hills check-post was congested with traffic coming to standstill for a couple of hours. “It’s a key principle to comply with traffic rules and regulations for smooth vehicle movement on the road. We participated in this traffic regulation programme to create awareness among the vehicle-riders about the risks of drunken driving,” Rajamouli told City Express. Traffic on New Year’s Eve: Traffic police officials confirmed that there were lesser cases booked under drunken-driving on December 31 night. In the Hyderabad-city limits, 19 cases were booked while 37 cases were registered in Cyberabad limits. After a three-day long initiative to counter drunken-driving during the New Year weekend from Friday to Sunday, approximately 100 cases were reported. As many as 35 traffic police check-posts were set up to monitor drunk- drivers. “In a quest to keep a tab on drunken-drivers across the city on the night of December 31, traffic police officials conducted a special one-hour drive between 10:30 and 11.30 pm through Secunderabad, Begumpet, Raj Bhavan road, Jubilee Hills and other places in the city,” said GVG Ashok Kumar, deputy commissioner of police, traffic said. “When the traffic police imposed traffic restrictions on various stretches and blocked all flyovers to prevent road accidents, traffic snarls took place. To divert the traffic movement and clear the existing snarls, our staff was able to participate in the drunken-drive for only a hour,” he added. Traffic came to standstill at Khairatabad junction, Jubilee Hills check-post, Banjara Hills, besides many places in Secunderabad, Necklace road, NTR Ghat road. In light of the recent accidents, the Outer Ring Road (ORR) was completely blocked. On Sunday, vehicles had a tough time as traffic snarls prevailed. Traffic police imposed restrictions on the upper Tank Bund-Children park and diverted them to the lower tank Bund.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com