The key accused in the AP Liquor Scam Raj Kasireddy alias Kasireddy Rajasekhar Reddy has admitted in the SIT interrogation that it was the then CM Jaganmohan Reddy had entrusted him with the responsibility of working out the liquor policy so that the government and the party would get good funds.
He directed that the party should get good funds through this policy and that income should be generated for the implementation of schemes. Moreover, he also revealed that the actual plot was designed at the residence of former MP Vijayasai Reddy.
“Jagan ordered it. I carried it out. Mithun Reddy, Sajjala Sridhar Reddy, Vijayasai Reddy, Vasudeva Reddy together hatched a scheme to extort bribes from liquor. Jagan’s secretary Dhanunjay Reddy, OSD Krishnamohan Reddy and many others had a role in this,” the ‘SIT’ revealed that the mastermind of the liquor scam, Raj Kasireddy has admitted.
Raj Kasireddy, who admitted all the details about the crime, the conspiracy behind it, his role, and the shareholding of others, ultimately refused to sign the confessional statement, the ‘SIT’ said. He also said that IRTS officer Vasudeva Reddy was brought to the state on deputation, first as the MD of Beverages Corporation and then as the Commissioner of Beverages and Distilleries.
He was given complete control over liquor sales, purchases, label registrations and other activities. “We entrusted the responsibility of implementing our plan to take bribes from liquor traders to Satya Prasad, who was the Assistant Secretary. We promised to give him IAS status under the Civil Service quota in 2023. We have appointed a special officer in the liquor case. We planned the liquor bribery conspiracy at Vijayasai Reddy’s house in Hyderabad”, he added.
Kasireddy said that a key meeting was held at Vijayasai’s house on October 13, 2019. Vijayasai Reddy, P. Mithun Reddy, Sajjala Sridhar Reddy and Special Liquor Officer Satya Prasad met. “We have designed a scheme to receive bribes of at least Rs. 50-60 crores per month from liquor manufacturers and distilleries. For this, we first wanted to remove the key C-Tel software in the Excise Department”, he said.
In the C-Tel software, all the details of liquor sales and supply are done automatically. The software was designed to give stock by adding the three-month sales of the respective brands and a ten percent increase on it.
“If this is implemented, our scheme will not work. According to our plan, the supply of liquor should not be decided by computers or online. We should decide which brand to supply and how much, and which to sell in retail shops”, he added.
Therefore, he said they have decided to make the supply offline instead of online and brought the production, supply and sale of liquor under our complete control. In December 2019, Mithun Reddy, Sajjala Sridhar Reddy, and Beverages MD Vasudeva Reddy met in a private bungalow on Sarathchandra Reddy Hospital Street in Hyderabad.
“We fixed that we would get tips from the manufacturers based on the basic price of a bottle of liquor. According to the tips we decided, we would get at least Rs. 50-60 crores every month. We would get data every month on the supply of liquor brands and the sale of liquor in government shops”, he said.
“For this, we used employees named Anusha and Saif. We used to calculate the commissions on the fifth of every month. Based on the data provided by them, T. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Boneti Chanakya alias Prakash would make calls to the respective companies. They would use VPN for phone calls”, he added.
After the companies paid the bribe money, he said that would reach him and he would send that money back to OSD Krishnamohan Reddy and Balaji.