Telugu Desam Party legislator A. Revanth Reddy was arrested Sunday evening by Telangana's anti-corruption bureau investigators after he was caught trying to bribe another MLA to get elected to the upper house of the state.
AK Khan, head of the ACB, later said that Elvis Stephenson, who represents the Anglo-Indian community, had complained to the bureau about Reddy's offer to pay Rs 5 crore as bribe. Sleuths waited for Reddy to arrive at Stephenson's house, recorded the conversation between them on a hidden camera, and then arrested Reddy who was found carrying Rs 50 lakh. This was meant as advance payment.
The video was later leaked on YouTube. Khan denied that the footage was released by the ACB.
Three others who had accompanied Reddy — Sebastian Harry, Uday Sinha and Dushyanth — were also arrested.
Reddy claimed that the sting operating was done to implicate him in a false case, but had no details or evidence to offer. This is the second blow to the TDP in two days after one of its MLAs joined the ruling TRS party on Saturday.
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