It has been revealed that during the YSRCP government, as part of its efforts to incite hatred against TDP supporters, former minister Vidadala Rajini had the Vigilance and Enforcement Department raid the Sri Lakshmi Balaji Stone Crusher in Edlapadu, Palnadu district.
Apart from filing a written complaint against the crusher, the officers, staff and the third-party agency that conducted the field investigation were politically pressured to submit a false report so that a heavy fine could be imposed. This was confessed in the statement given to the Vigilance by the then Guntur RVEO Palle Joshua.
The Vigilance and Enforcement Department has issued notices to the then Guntur RVEO and IPS officer Palle Joshua as part of the investigation into the allegations of threatening, harassing and extorting money from the stone crusher owners. He gave a written reply on October 21 last year. That statement has recently come to light.
It was revealed that Rajini had ordered these attacks. Joshua worked as the Guntur Regional Vigilance and Enforcement Officer from June 24, 2019 to August 24, 2021. The then Chilakaluripet MLA Vidadala Rajini came to the RVE office and filed a written complaint against the Sri Lakshmi Balaji Stone Crusher in Edlapadu.
She insisted on taking appropriate action for alleged violation of the rules and mining at will and evading taxes to the government. Joshua initially conducted a secret investigation into those allegations. It was revealed that the owners of the stone crusher were sympathizers of the then opposition TDP and that there was a deep political enmity between them as Vidadala Rajini was an MLA of the then ruling YSRCP.
When one of the crusher owners, Katta Srinivas, tried to install a statue of former Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao at a junction in Chilakaluripet, Rajini and her followers objected and stopped him. After that, Katta Srinivas installed the statue in his residential premises.
In this process, Joshua said in his statement that he found out during the investigation that political enmity had developed between the Sri Lakshmi Balaji Stone Crusher owners and Rajini. He said that the complaint was received in the context of these developments and differences.