Bankers turn witnesses in Jagan case

HYDERABAD: A host of bankers and employees working in companies allegedly favoured by the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy have come forward as witnesses and given the CBI vital information about various transactions.

Sources associated with the investigation told that even as the CBI was conducting searches across various premises, some bankers, who are in the know of 'shady' transactions in the probe pertaining to Jagan's assets, agreed to be witnesses in the case.

Simultaneously, some employees, working in the firms allegedly favoured by YS Rajasekhara Reddy, also turned witnesses. They are mostly the people involved in the financial transactions of the companies.

Though the witnesses were ready to depose before the CBI, the round-the-clock 'monitoring' by TV channels deterred them from coming out into the open and this has led to a delay in examining them. However, the issue was resolved with CBI officials asking mediapersons to cooperate.

Sources said the CBI had reportedly identified several 'informal' witnesses as well as those willing to throw more light on the transactions, those involved in land registrations, handling accounts and middlemen among others both in Jagan and Emaar cases.

It is learnt that some witnesses may come even from the government side, especially those who processed various files pertaining to the companies that invested in Jagan's firms. "Some could be named approvers in the case,' sources said.

In any probe of this magnitude, sources said, there are both formal and informal witnesses. Their versions will be corroborated. The CBI expects to piece together missing links and vital information in the cases through the witnesses.

Sources further said the collection of documents from various government departments will continue for the next few days as all the necessary files (its true copies) had to be tracked across various departments.

The CBI has so far gathered 12 trunks of documents. Several such documents are being sent for analysis. 'Once the entire documentation is through, without any loose ends, the process of serving notices will commence,' the sources said adding that by early next week, the notices under section 160 CrPC will be served and the accused questioned in Dilkusha guest house.

'They will be confronted with the documents and the versions of the witnesses,' they said. When asked whether Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy and senior IAS officer BP Acharya are being served notices next week, the sources neither denied nor confirmed it.