The unauthorized toll gate set up near Krishnapatnam Port to extort money with the support of Nellore district YSRCP president and former minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy has been exposed. The police estimated that the amount collected from containers measuring 20 feet in length alone is Rs. 44 crore.
Transporter Farid, who lost money due to these irregularities, filed a complaint at the Muthukur police station on the 6th of this month, and a case was registered on the 7th and an investigation is underway. In this case, Kakani Govardhan Reddy as A1, Muthukur mandal YSRCP convener Metta Vishnuvardhan Reddy as A2, and Tupili Sridhar Reddy as A3, along with ten other names, have been registered in the FIR.
Before 2019, hundreds of vehicles used to travel from Krishnapatnam Port daily. To manage these, the transporters formed the Krishnapatnam Lorry Welfare Association. After the YSRCP came to power, Kakani, who won the MLA for the second time, snatched the Lorry Association and set up a company called Krishnapatnam Logistics as an affiliate.
He also dominated the companies importing goods at the port. The contract for providing transport vehicles was forcibly taken. Later, a toll gate was set up near Pantapalem and money was collected from the vehicles travelling to and from the port. After that, they committed robbery by charging 4 percent of the total based on the weight of the truck and the rent.
As a result, the container owners turned to Chennai Port, and the container terminal at Krishnapatnam Port was closed, according to port employees and transporters. In April 2022, information was sent to exporters and importers in the name of KPCT Transport Association that transport charges were being increased.
Without stopping there, invoices were issued in the name of Krishnapatnam Logistics for the container carrying the load, not in the name of the association. The money received from the buyers was diverted to the logistics account as well as to bank accounts in the name of Tupili Sridhar Reddy.
Police investigation revealed that some people, instigated by Kakani, threatened to kill those who did not pay money and tried to complain, and committed attacks. In this case, the Muthukur police produced Kakani Govardhan Reddy in the Nellore Railway Court through a PT warrant, and Judge Palamangalam Vinod remanded him till July 3.
Later, the lawyers representing the former minister filed a petition seeking bail. He is already on remand in cases of illegal mining and transportation of quartz, illegal gravel mining, and photo morphing, among others.