Hyderabad, November 15: Donning a dark saffron shirt and a light saffron lungi, Koneru Rajendra Prasad alias Koneru Prasad, accused in the EmaarAPIIC property case, requested the special CBI court magistrate to grant him permission to undertake pilgrimage to the Ayyappa temple on Sabarimala in Kerala as part of his deeksha (vow).
Prasad, standing before the magistrate with his eyes closed, hummed hymns as the magistrate was drafting an order after hearing the arguments of the counsels of both the sides.
With his CBI custody coming to an end on Monday, the agency produced Prasad before magistrate B Naga Maruthi Sharma. Immediately, CBI’s deputy legal adviser B Ravindranath filed a petition seeking four days of police custody to interrogate Prasad on the alleged irregularities that took place in the EmaarAPIIC property sales. Ravindranath also maintained that the accused was involved in selling villas at different prices and was well acquainted with public servants who were hand in glove with him in the sale of villas.
Ravindranath said that during Prasad’s 11daylong police custody, CBI officials interrogated him and extracted information on the irregularities. Initially, Prasad revealed details of `30crore transactions and later spilled the beans on `117 crore worth of transactions out of the `190crore transactions that took place on EmaarAPIIC properties, he claimed.
“Are you comfortable with the officials?” the magistrate asked Prasad. “I am under tremendous pressure and am depressed, sir. Please grant me permission for my pilgrimage to Sabarimala. I am on deeksha.’ Prasad replied. “I am cooperating with the investigation agency. I revealed all information that I have. The CBI also summoned some of the buyers and interrogated them,” he told the magistrate.
Opposing CBI’s plea for a fourday police custodial interrogation, Prasad’s counsel said that the accused had already appeared before the CBI whenever it summoned him before his arrest and he was cooperating with it during their interrogation. Rejecting the CBI counsel’s petition for custodial interrogation, the magistrate sent him to judicial remand for four days till November 18.
Meanwhile, Prasad’s counsel filed a petition for bail. Asking CBI’s counsel to file a counter petition, the magistrate posted the petition to November 15 for hearing.
–Agencies