Cash for MLAs case: Kerala HC grants 3 people interim protection from arrest

However, the court granted them interim protection from arrest till the matter would be taken up for consideration on 5 December.

They moved the court after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Telangana police served them notices under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) seeking their appearance before them at its headquarters in Hyderabad.

In their plea, the trio contended that they had no links with any sort of political conspiracy in Telangana.

Senior BJP leader BL Santhosh and three others including two persons from Kerala — Jaggu Swami and Thushar Vellapally — besides one B Srinivas are facing a probe by the SIT in the case of the alleged conspiracy to poach four TRS MLAs.

Three persons — Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nanda Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy — were named as accused in the case after a complaint was lodged by TRS MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy, among four legislators, against them on 26 October.

As per the FIR copy, Rohith Reddy alleged that the accused offered him ₹100 crore and in return, the legislator had to leave the TRS and contest as a BJP candidate in the next Telangana Assembly election.

Earlier, the Telangana SIT had issued notices to Santhosh and the two persons from Kerala to appear before it for questioning.

However, they did not turn up before the investigation panel. Srinivas, who was also summoned by the SIT, had appeared before it.

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