2 sheep scam accused may have fled abroad, feels ACB

Hyderabad: The Anti Corruption Bureau is suspecting that two key accused in the ‘sheep scam’ escaped to Saudi Arabia two months ago and are allegedly threatening a witness in the case from the Gulf country.Sources in ACB said two accused have been identified as Syed Mohidoddin and Syed Ikramuddin Ahmed and both are believed to have left the country before ACB registered the case and are not responding to the bureau’s queries.On Dec 26 last year, Gachibowli police received a complaint from S Yedukondalu, a sheep trader and native of AP’s Palnadu district. In the complaint, he alleged contractor Mohidoddin, his son Ikramuddin and two assistant directors of animal husbandry department, D Ravi Kumar and M Aditya Keshava Sai, visited him to explain about Telangana state sheep distribution scheme.At Vellela in Prakasam district, Yedukondalu and 17 others handed over 133 units of sheep to Mohidoddin, his son and two officials between Aug 13 and 23 last year. Each unit consists of 21 sheep. “Later, all of us handed over our bank account details, Aadhaar card numbers and phone numbers to the two assistant directors. But, money has not been credited to our accounts,” he said in his complaint.Yedukondalu and others then went to the joint director’s office and enquired and were shocked to know that the amount was already credited to other accounts which did not belong to them. He said the two officials had promised to upload their accounts online, but Moinuddin and Ikramuddin uploaded other account numbers online. “In this regard, we went to Mohidoddin and Ikramuddin’s office at Gachibowli, but they warned us,” the complainant said.ACB, in its investigation, found that Ravi Kumar and Keshava Sai colluded with Mohidoddin and Ikramuddin and created fake benami accounts and diverted govt funds to the tune of Rs 2.01 crore. ACB arrested the two accused officials along with deputy director Sangu Ganesh in adult education department and groundwater officer Pasula Raghupathi Reddy on Thursday in connection with the case.Meanwhile, senior Congress leader G Niranjan demanded a comprehensive probe into the sheep distribution scam.
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