Mopidevi denies reports of bribes, others say they received party fund
February 08, 2012 13:16
Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana denied having taken any bribes from the arrested liquor business man Mr Ramana who ran a liquor syndicate in Khammam and Warangal districts.
In the wake of the reports that Ramana paid huge bribes to the liquor minister and some other politicians, Venkataramana this morning met the Chief Minister Kirankumar Reddy at his residence and offered explanation on the reports that he received a bribe of Rs.10 lakh.
The minister later told journalists that he would resign his job if the allegations are proved. “I never met him personally or my associates never took money from him,” he said, adding it was unfortunate that a man with criminal history made allegations against him. “In the past, I ordered an investigation against him and for this reason, he has made baseless allegations against me,” said the minister denying any involvement in the bribes.
ACB officials who submitted Ramana’s remand report to the court on Tuesday quoted Ramana as having said he paid a bribe of Rs.10 lakh to the Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana, Rs.5 lakh to Mahaboobnagar MLA Kavitha, Rs.3 lakh to Sattupalli MLA Mr Ventaka Veeraiah, Rs.3 lakh to Sudarshan, CPM secretary of Khammam district, Rs 4 lakh to P. Ranga Rao, secretary of the CPI-ML New Democracy of Khammam, Rs.40,000 to one Parthasaradhi, Rs.40,000 to CPM leader Srinivas and Rs.60,000 to Rajendar, TRS Khammam district unit president.
Sudarshan clarifies
Sudarshan, CPM secretary of Khammam district, told journalists he didn’t receive any bribes from Ramana but collected the money towards party fund for conducting the just concluded CMP annual meet at Khammam.
New Democracy wing of Khammam also said in a statement they gave receipts for the donation they collected from Ramana for conducting the party activities. Kavitha also denied having received any bribes from Ramana.
Meanwhile, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu demanded the resignation Mopidevi from the Cabinet. “If he doesn’t resign, CM should dismiss him,” Naidu demanded in a press conference today in Hyderabad. (JUBS)
