Telangana minister booked for election affidavit tampering

Hyderabad, Aug (IANS) Telangana police on Friday registered a case against state minister V. Srinivas Goud and 10 others in an election affidavit tampering case.

The case was booked in Mahabubnagar Two Town police station on the direction of the special court for MPs and MLAs in Hyderabad.

The police booked the Minister for Tourism and Excise along with some election officials.

Earlier in the day, the special court in Nampally directed the Mahabubnagar police to register a case against Srinivas Goud and others. The direction came on a petition filed by a person named Raghavendra Raju. The petitioner brought to the court’s notice that the police did not booked the case despite a court order.

The court directed the police to immediately submit details of the case and asked whether the case was booked.

If a case is registered, FIR and other details should be submitted by the evening, the court directed the public prosecutor and the police. The court also warned that if Mahabubnagar police fail to register the case, it may be treated as contempt of court.

The petitioner had alleged that Srinivas Goud manipulated records during the 2018 state elections, changing the election affidavit before the returning officer in Mahabubnagar, and concealing information in the affidavit pertaining to the lands purchased by his wife and loans obtained from banks.

Goud was elected from the Mahabubnagar Assembly constituency. According to the petitioner, Goud filed three affidavits. He alleged that the BRS candidate replaced the affidavit in collision with the returning officer in violation of the Representation of Peoples Act. The minister, however, denied the allegations.