HYDERABAD:Â A former Congress MLA has been arrested for allegedly trafficking three people to the United States on the basis of forged documents while holding the public representative’s post in 2004, police said here.
Jayaprakash Reddy alias Jagga Reddy, former MLA of Sanga Reddy, was arrested and produced in a local court which remanded him to 14 days judicial custody, they said.
Reddy was arrested based on information that he allegedly obtained passports in 2004 for himself and for three others in the name of his wife, daughter and son by affixing photos of three unknown persons from Regional Passport office, Secunderabad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Zone) B Sumathi said.
Reddy, after obtaining the passports and US visa, allegedly illegally transported the three people by accompanying them and took Rs 15 lakh from an agent, police said.
A case under various sections related to Passport Act, Immigration Act, besides on charges of Human Trafficking, forgery and cheating, among others, under IPC was registered against the Congress leader.
An investigation is on with regard to another local Congress leader’s involvement, the DCP said.
“The former MLA confessed that he took an amount of Rs 15 lakh (Rs 5 lakh each for three) from an agent and trafficked three unknown persons to the United States by accompanying them as his family members and dropped them at New York,” she said.
He cheated the authorities at the Regional Passport office as well as the US Consulate by using his official position as an MLA then by submitting forged documents, the police official said.
Police has sought information from the US Consulate also as part of the investigation, she said.
Reddy said the case was politically motivated. He accused caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his nephew, Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao of hatching a plan to get rid of him from the coming assembly election arena.
“After Rahul Gandhi’s meeting (at Sangareddy in 2017)), Congress party started gaining popularity. So they (KCR) wanted to weaken Congress leaders morally and are filing cases.
Not only me, they are trying to weaken other leaders also with cases,” he said at a hospital where he was medically examined before being produced in court. “I am asking why they filed case against me at this point of time…,” Reddy said. PTI
