The US today approached India for arrest of Congress Rajya Sabha member K V P Ramachandra Rao who has been indicted by a US Federal Jury on charges of receiving bribes of USD 18.5 million from an American firm which was allowed mining of Titanium minerals in Andhra Pradesh.
In a letter sent by American National Crime Bureau through Interpol to the CBI, the US authorities have said Rao should be put under provisional arrest till all the documents were handed over to India through diplomatic channels for his possible extradition to stand trial in Chicago, official sources said.
The sources said CBI sent the letter to the Andhra Pradesh Police asking them to take action against Rao, who was a close aide to late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
When contacted, Rao told PTI over phone from Hyderabad that he had no information about anything. "I have not received any notice officially and have no information about what the US authorities are doing," he said.
Asked about the indictment by the US Federal Jury, he said, "how can I react on assumptions".
The US also informed CBI that Interpol had already been approached for issuance of Red Corner Notice against Rao, who was charged in the US in an alleged international racketeering conspiracy involving bribes worth USD 18.5 million to state and central government officials in India to allow the American firm undertake mining of Titanium minerals in Andhra Pradesh.
A US federal five-count indictment, returned under seal in June 2013 and unsealed in Chicago on April three, charges 65-year-old Rao and five others with one count each of racketeering conspiracy and money laundering and two counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering.
As per the US laws, all the accused will be produced before Chicago court where they can either enter into a plea bargain or face the trial.
