Cockfighting racket: Moinabad police issue notice to BRS MLC
64 held in Moinabad farmhouse raid
Hyderabad: The Moinabad police on Thursday served notices to BRS MLC Pochampally Srinivas Reddy in connection with the ownership of the farmhouse which was raided by the SOT for illegally conducting cockfighting.
According to investigating officer Muzaffar, after reviewing revenue records and other valid documents, it was discovered that the farmhouse belongs to BRS MLC Pochampally Srinivas Reddy. In this regard, the police served the MLC notices under Section 35(3) of the BNS, directing him to appear at the police station for questioning.
“According to the notice, the MLC has been given four days of time to appear before the police and answer all the questions pertaining to the case. We are yet to confirm whether he was a part of the organising team or is related to anyone we have identified as an organiser,” the IO said.
The farmhouse where the gambling took place is located in survey number 165/a, in Tolkatta village in Moinabad. The police said that based on the MLC’s reply they will be able to decide whether he can be added as an accused in the case or not.
On February 11, at 7.30pm, the Cyberabad SOT, along with the Moinabad police, arrested 64 persons for allegedly conducting cockfights at the identified farmhouse. As a result, 86 chickens, Rs 30 lakh in cash and 55 cars were recovered by the police. The accused arrested are a mix of people natives of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The prime accused in the case—Bhupathi Raju Shivakumar Varma alias Gabbar—had reportedly taken Srinivas Reddy’s farmhouse on sub-lease to conduct these illegal activities.
