HYDERABAD: Liquor syndicate member Nunna Venkata Ramana, who created a sensation with his confession that he paid a bribe of `10 lakh to excise minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana, beat a hasty retreat Wednesday, saying he made that accusation under pressure from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). He said he was not even a liquor trader but a farmer.Ramana, who was arrested by the ACB in Warangal recently, said in his bail petition that the agency personnel subjected him to third degree interrogation methods to obtain a confession that the excise minister was a recipient of bribes.Even though ACB officials showed in the FIR that he was arrested on February 3 during raids on his syndicate offices, Ramana alleged in his petition that he was detained on February 1.“I was not involved in any liquor trade. I am a farmer. I cultivate my land in Warangal. ACB officials deliberately implicated me in the liquor mafia,’’ he said in the petition.Nunna, who is currently lodged in the Cherlapally central prison, pleaded in his petition that the court should consider taking action against those ACB officials who subjected him to third degree methods. “ACB officials harassed me mentally and physically. Besides, they threatened me with dire consequences if I did not name the minister,’’ he said. Nunna also alleged that ACB officials wrote out his ‘confessional statement’ and took his signature on it and submitted to court.The ACB court posted the hearing on Nunna’s bail petition filed to March 1. The ACB counsel did not file a counter to the petition. While giving two days’ time to the agency to file a counter-affidavit, the ACB court posted the hearing the petition to March 1.
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