Emaar Villas Case: CBI Unearths a Convicted Cheat

During questioning of the Emaar villa owners, the investigating agency CBI brought to fore a convicted cheat, who also happens to be owner of a villa in Emaar Boulder Hills project. He is none other than the managing director of 'Surya' Telugu newspaper, Nukarapu Surya Prakash Rao. The CBI on Wednesday produced Nukarapu Surya Prakash Rao in the CBI special court in connection with a cheating case. The investigating agency urged the court to send him to jail as he was already convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment in the case. The AP High Court too upheld the sentence imposed on him. This case and his subsequent conviction came to the fore when the CBI summoned him and questioned him about his villa in the Emaar case. The CBI Special Court Judge Naga Maruti Sarma, however bailed him out for a day against a personal bond of Rs. 25000/. Surya Prakash Rao produced some papers claiming that the Supreme Court after hearing his plea that raised certain health concerns gave him two weeks time to show proof for the same. He said he was seeking some time to surrender in the court on health grounds. The judge posted the case to Thursday for decidng the matter. The politician turned media baron Surya Prakash Rao was convicted for entering into a conspiracy with the officials of Somajiguda branch of Vijaya Bank in 1987 and got a loan of Rs 2.67 crore sanctioned to two fictitious firms. These two firms promised to help the bank mobilize deposits in return for housing loans to several persons sponsored by them. The housing loans sanctioned by the bank were swallowed up by the fictitious firms. The court found certain bank officials and Rao guilty and convicted them for two years of imprisonment. Though Suryaprakasa Rao challenged it in the high court, it did not give him any relief and upheld the trial court's order. The trial court later issued an arrest warrant against Suryaprakasa Rao.   Interestingly, he was earlier also questioned by the CBI in the disproportionate assets case against YSR Congress Party President Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. However, the arrest was made in the Vijaya Bank cheating case. Suryaprakash Rao was once considered a close confidante of former Chief Minister late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy. There were allegations that he had encroached upon a prime land at Nadargul on the city outskirts. Subsequently, he switched political loyalty to Telugu Desam Party just before the 2009 elections and contested from Anakapalli Lok Sabha seat on TDP ticket but was defeated.

CBI Arrest Stopped Gali From Fleeing The Country

The haste in arresting mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy by CBI has been explained. According to the CBI, Gali Janardhan Reddy was planning to flee the country with his wife Lakshmi Aruna when the agency caught up with him in Bellary on September 5. Sources said that Gali had got wind of the fact that CBI would call him for questioning and his hasty move was to avoid the agency cops. According to the case diary submitted to the CBI Special Court, CBI also got information that the mining baron was planning to scoot and landed in Bellary. Given the rush situation, they could not move the designated court for a search warrant. However, to avoid an illegality, they took the district SP of Bellary into confidence and told him that they would use Section 165 of Criminal Procedure Code of the IPC to search Gali's premises. The SP also provided the CBI team with a local force and CBI officials themselves brought two circle inspectors from Bangalore - familiar with the terrain - to avoid local trouble. The case diary also details that the sleuths knocked at Gali's doors at 6 am and took him by surprise. They also started questioning him about his illegal mining activities, but no answers were forthcoming. At this point, the team started searching his house and this led to recovery of large quantity of cash, gold and jewelery. The search over an arrest memo was served on Gali and the contents explained both to him and wife, the CBI case diary says. At 6.30 am, the CBI team went to the house of Sreenivasa Reddy, brother-in-law of Gali and repeated the same sequence before arresting him. Interestingly, the case diary also mentions how a manager of the OMC spoke at length with CBI sleuths and gave the agency detailed information about the goings on. On Wednesday, CBI also interrogated Gali who is now in their custody at length countering him all the information that the agency has gathered from the manager. The interrogation is likely to continue tomorrow. Gali has permission to have two of his lawyers with him during questioning. CBI sleuths were tight-lipped about details of the questioning.

Ayaz's Mother Sits Quietly, Praying For a Miracle

Amidst the hectic activity in Apollo Hospital corridors, huddled quietly in a room with her relatives near the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital’s international block where Ayazuddin is undergoing treatment, sits his mother Naureen and estranged wife of Mohammed Azharuddin. Clad in a white printed salwar kameez, head covered with a dupatta, 41-year-old Naureen looks visibly shaken by the sudden turn of events. If earlier she would eagerly await updates on her younger son doing well in the field of cricket, her small world came crashing down as she heard the news of the grave accident on Sunday morning. Ever since, she has been spending most of her time at the hospital. "My association with Ayaz is just like (what) any other mother (would have). Despite the fact that he is living with his father, he used to frequently meet me," said Naureen. Sources close to the family said that Naureen was a fond mother who visited her son's college on several occasions. Ayaz's elder brother, Asad, was also seen at the hospital, waiting in the corridors with his cousins and friends of his injured brother. The boys were seen huddled in groups and consulting doctors monitoring Ayaz's condition. Meanwhile, Azharuddin remained in another room provided by the hospital and came out only occasionally to enquire about Ayaz's health condition. After Ayaz's surgery in the late afternoon, Azharuddin went to Alamgir mosque at Shanti Nagar for the 'ziarat' (third day ceremony) and visited the nearby graveyard where Ajmal, his nephew, was laid to rest. Family and friends have been praying for Ayaz's recovery ever since his accident. The St Mary's College student is known to be soft-spoken both among friends and his family, many of whom were seen in the hospital's lobby anxiously waiting for updates on his health. That he is popular in his friends circle is clear from his profile on Facebook where he has many friends, and has him posing at the camera in a sombre mood. Meanwhile, there were some unruly scenes in the hospital when a family of four tried to strike a pose for a picture with a grief-stricken Azharuddin. It took the hospital staff, doctors and the security personnel and several stern warnings to dissuade them from disturbing the former cricketer. Among those who called upon the family on Tuesday were ministers J Geeta Reddy and Ponnala Lakshmaiah. Source: TOI.  

Emaar Boulder Hills: Woes of The Villa Owners

The controversial Emaar Boulder Hills project, which is under scanner of the CBI, may take time to get resolved, but it hasn't been stalled completely. At least 12 of the total 133 villas in this plush golf club-cum-residential venture in Gachibowli are already nearing completion with some owners even planning to move in to their new homes by the end of this year. But before these customers can make arrangements for their 'griha pravesh', they are facing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths who have started interrogating villa owners since Monday, for more leads on the APIIC-Emaar scam. According to buyers who faced the grilling session on Day 1, the investigating body is said to be listing down every minute detail about each owner in order to get to the bottom of the case. "From my primary bank account statements, right from 2005-2011, to details of my income tax returns (for all these six years), MoU signed between me and Emaar MGF and agreement of sale, the interrogators went through everything during that one-and-a-half-hour session. They even checked bank statements of my family members, questioned me on how I came to know about the Boulder Hills project, how much I paid for the plot etc," the buyer said while accusing the developer (Emaar MGF) for putting its customers through such a harrowing experience. As per the rulebook, it is mandatory for every plot owner of the project to get a go-ahead from IALA (Industrial Area Local Authorities), an arm of APIIC responsible for land allotments and granting permissions for industrial and residential development on any land belonging to the government body. "We (owners of these 12 villa plots) luckily got the IALA permission before the scam broke out and have been able to go ahead with the work. The rest haven't, so construction of their houses has not yet started," added another villa owner. But owners pointed out that the residential project still does not have most of the basic amenities. "The developer has not put in place water, electricity or drainage facilities in the area, though they had promised to do so. So even if we move in, we will have to buy water and take care of the other issues at our own expense," the owner said. Records indicate that all these sprawling bungalows, which belong either to cash-rich industrialists, bureaucrats or celebrities, were bought in the first lot of sales carried out by Emaar MGF in 2005. "When we bought these plots for development, the project was free of any controversy. Hence, we also got the required clearance from the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC)," said a property owner in Boulder Hills whose bungalow is in the final stages of construction.  

Botsa-CM Differ on Banswada Byelection

The byelection to the Banswada assembly constituency, caused by Pocharam Srinivas Reddy's resignation in support of separate Telangana, has given raise to a difference of opinion between the chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana. On Saturday, the steering committee of the T-Congress had urged the party leadership to honour the decision of the Telangana parties to leave any byelection connected to the Telangana cause uncontested. In spite of different views in the state Congress on contesting the Banswada byelection on October 13, a meeting held by chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy decided that the party would throw its hat in the ring. The meeting, attended by PCC presisdent Botsa Satyanarayana, MP Suresh Setkar, minister B Sudarshan Reddy and Nizamabad DCC president G Gangadhar, finally took the decision which goes against the recommendation of the steering committee of the T-Congress which advocated opting out of the bypoll since it is related to the Telangana issue. In fact, except the chief minister, all the other members, Botsa, former PCC chief D Srinivas, former minitser Md Shabbir Ali, Shetkar and Sudarshan Reddy are opposed to fielding a candidate in the by-election. Botsa, who is having a soft corner for the T-movement, is expected to put forth his argument before the party high command in New Delhi in the next couple of days to persuade the leadership to abstain from contesting the election. According to sources, Botsa is of the view that fielding a candidate in the byelection against TRS would vitiate the atmosphere for the Congress in Telangana. He is also said to have argued in the party circles against the party taking the risk of losing election and incurring the wrath of people since the outcome does not alter the Congress position in the assembly. Meanwhile, sources close to the CM said that he was against the decision of TCongress steering committee as it would set a precedent. "The CM is anticipating some more byelections in Telangana. So, as a national party, apprehending defeat, we should not shy away from facing elections," is the opinion of the CM, according to sources. The Seemandhra Congress leaders are expected to back the chief minister in this tussle with the PCC president.  

TJAC Sakala Janula Samme to Begin With Jana Garjana

As a prelude to the 'Sakala Janula Samme' from 13 September, Telangana JAC has planned to organize a huge public meeting named 'Telangana Jana Garjana' at Karimnagar on 12 September. Government employees in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh will go on indefinite strike from Sep 13 as part of 'Sakala Janula Samme'. The steering committee of Telangana employees joint action committee (JAC) on Saturday decided to serve the strike notice on the government on Monday. The employees also decided to stage lunch-hour protests from Monday to mobilise support for the strike, which was earlier deferred twice. The  'Sakala Janula Samme' or maas strike by all sections of the society seeking statehood was originally planned to start on Aug 17 with a demand that the central government initiate the process for carving out a Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh. The JAC deferred the strike to Sep 6 following appeals from Muslim groups to postpone it in view of the holy month of Ramzan. The JAC once again postponed the strike in view of Ganesh festivities, which began on Sep 1 and lasted till Sep 11. Now that these hurdles are cleared, the JAC plans to intensify its agitation for a separate state. Starting with Jana Garjana, all cinema halls in the region would be shut on Sep 14 and 15. There would be a blockade of national highways on Sep 17 and rail blockade on Sep 22. Telangana activists will lay siege to the offices of the district collectors on Sep 25. As part of final phase of its agitation, the JAC plans to lay siege to Hyderabad in October. JAC convenor M. Kodandaram said the strike would bring the administration to halt, affect services like electricity supply and transport while schools and colleges would also shut down.      

Wikileaks Confirm Corruption Allegations on YSR

Recently there has been a lot of hullabaloo raised by YSR Congress and also by some of the Congress MLAs that late YS Rajasekhar Reddy's image is being tarnished by the high command as part of the 'witch hunt' against his son Jagan Mohan Reddy. Earlier, not only the opposition parties, even some leaders of his own party have made several allegations of corruption against Dr. Rajasekhar Reddy. They alleged that in the guise of welfare schemes for the poor, YSR has robbed the public exchequer and also allowed his people to lay their hands on the public money. Three days ago Wikileaks has released a cable which confirms all these allegations. According to the cable, the US consulate authorities of Chennai have toured Hyderabad and sent a cable titled 'Corruption Plagues Andhra Pradesh Big Ticket Spending Programmes' to the US government on October 22, 2007. Wikileaks says that the cable mentioned about the corrupt practices of YSR. The US authorities have stated in that cable that though every one knew about YSR's corruption, he took care that no one made it an issue. The cable also said that though the common-man-centric welfare schemes were introduced by the Andhra Pradesh government spending lakhs of crores of rupees, a discussion has started expressing fears that these very schemes would endanger the welfare of the people, despite their being politically popular. The Wikileaks has said the American authorities have mentioned in their report that there was a country-wide debate on the unprecedented corruption of the YSR government.

Ameerpet Ganesh Laddu Gets 9.10 Lakh

Seems the reality boom in Hyderabad is back with Telangana movement taking backstage for the time being. This sentiment seems to have played a major role in Ganesh-laddu auctions this year. A laddu offered to Ganesh by a private housing firm in Ameerpet fetched Rs 9.10 lakhs in an auction on Sunday, perhaps the highest for a laddu this year.     VVR Housing Pvt Ltd chief executive officer (Marketing) T Srinivas bought the Ganesh laddu weighing 59 kgs for Rs 9.10 lakhs in the auction held at its head office in Ameerpet. In 2010, three employees of the firm had bought laddu for Rs 6.50 lakhs. The firm has announced that the bid amount (Rs 9.10 lakhs) would be donated to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF). After Ameerpet, Badangpet laddu managed to get Rs 6.20 lakhs. A realtor, P Venkat Reddy, from Badangpet village bought the 21 kg laddu for Rs 6.20 lakhs in an open auction. It was for the fourth time (2005, 2006 and 2007), the realtor had successfully bid for the laddu. In 2010, one G Narasimha had taken the sweet home for Rs 5.65 lakhs. "I have strong belief that the laddu ensures success in my real estate business," P Venkat Reddy told. This year the Balapur laddu also set a new record in an open auction held by the Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi. The laddu fetched Rs 5.45 lakhs, Rs 10,000 more than the last year successful bid amount. Kolanu Brothers -  Kolanu Mohan Reddy and Kolanu Krishna Reddy, farmers from Balapur village -  bought the 21 kg laddu in the auction for Rs 5.45 lakhs. In 2010, a realtor, K Sridhar Babu, had bought the Balapur laddu for Rs 5.35 lakhs. Though this year too he participated in the auction, he quit the auction at Rs 5.40 lakhs. Though a 2,200 kg laddu was offered to the 52-feet Khairatabad Ganesh, the organisers, as always, did not conduct any auction. They distributed it among devotees.      

Nandamuri Balakrishna's Plunge Into Active Politics

Finally Nandamuri Balakrishna, son of former chief minister NT Ramarao, has decided to take a plunge into active politics. He made known his political ambitions by declaring that he is ready to enter active politics 'to serve the people'. This he announced after participating in a charity cricket match at ananthapur on Sunday, However, he said that he was yet to decide on a constituency. The 51-year-old actor, who had joined TDP and campaigned for it in the 2009 elections, denied that his sole interest was to become the chief minister. "I would work hard to strengthen the party in the state. I have no idea on the chief ministerial post," he said. As soon as Balakrishna, who is also the winner of this year's Nandi award for the best actor, made his intentions clear, several leaders welcomed the decision. Uravakonda MLA P Keshav even offered to vacate his seat so that Balakrishna could contest from the constituency. "Balakrishna could contest from Hindupur assembly seat in the coming elections as it has always been a safe bet for TDP," party sources said. Pressure is also mounting with a section of the TDP opposing local MLA Abdul Ghani as candidate for the next elections. The NTR family has established a strong base in Anantapur district as NTR himself was elected thrice as MLA from Hindupur assembly constituency. After NTR's death, his son Harikrishna was elected as MLA from Hindupur and served as minister for a few months. Though he campaigned in support of his father, Balakrishna did not involve himself in active politics when NTR was the CM. Sources said Balakrishna commands good support among his fans and TDP Telugu Yuvatha leaders in Hindupur. Ever since TDP came into being, Congress had never succeeded in defeating TDP candidates in Hindupur. Source: TV9.      

Back From Delhi Jagan Resumes Odarpu Yatra

In an attempt to lift the dampened spirits of the party cadre, the YSR Congress president Jagan Mohan Reddy resumed his 'Odarpu Yatra' in Krishana district on Saturday, a day after his return from Delhi. Jagan received a warm welcome at the airport in the afternoon by a crowd dominated by women from the nearby villages. In contrast to the tense mood he displayed during his visit to the national capital, Jagan looked confident as he again resumed gathering public support against his political rivals. Jagan lashed out at the ruling Congress and the opposition Telugu Desam Party by alleging that both the parties have joined hands to embarass him. "The Congress and TDP shamelessly joined hands to approach the court of law and get cases filed against me," he said, amidst cheers and slogans at Ajjampudi village. He further added that these two parties have thrown all ethics and principles into the air by making baseless allegations against him. Jagan unveiled the statues of late YSR at Keesaralli, Atchampudi and Buddavaram villages. He consoled the family of one Vijayalakshmi at Buddavaram before reaching Gannavaram. The developments in New Delhi have in fact demoralised the party cadres back on the home turf following Jagan's remark that he was not averse to an alliance with the UPA government. Again, the arrest of mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy, said to be close to the YSR family, which was done exactly at the same time when Jagan landed in New Delhi, dampened the mood of the YSR party cadre. Seeing that only garnering of public support on the issue can help him in healing the 'political ailments', the party had planned to resume the Odarpu Yatra.