Hyderabad: Narco test scares Krushi scamster

[ 8 Sep, 2006 0324hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

HYDERABAD: Krushi Bank scam prime accused K Venkateshwara Rao has reportedly refused to undergo the narcoanalysis test as he feared the drug being used in test may pose a risk to his life. However, CID officials claim Telgi’s revelations may have influenced him to do a U-turn.

As Rao refused to take the test, the CID officials brought him back to the city from Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon and sent him back to the Chanchalguda jail.

"If the CID wants to conduct a narcoanalysis test at any cost, why should they seek Venkateshwara Rao’s consent? Due to the drug given during a narco test, the subject may slip into a coma and it may pose a risk to his life too,’’ G Ashok Reddy, counsel for Kosaraju Venkateshwara Rao, told TOI on Thursday.

Before conducting a surgery or a procedure on a patient, doctors take mandatory medical consent from the patient or relatives, making it clear they are not responsible for any eventuality during the event. Similarly, the CID and doctors want to escape from their responsibility by way of getting his assent, Reddy said.

CID sources said Venkateshwara Rao was all right till Tuesday night and they thought he would cooperate and undergo the test.

Suddenly, he changed his mind and refused to sign after completing the mandatory health check, they added.

"Some news channels aired fake stamp scam kingpin Telgi’s revelations during the narcoanalysis on Tuesday night and that could have scared him. He may have thought he would drop names too under the influence of the drug and that may pose a threat to his life,"the sources added. The CID officials would approach the court again for an order.

"Consent of the accused is not mandatory for conducting the truth serum test. There are several judgments delivered by courts in Karnataka and Maharashtra on this. The FSL experts might have refused to do the test because their guidelines insist on subject’s consent,"a CID officer said.

Police officers also dismissed the argument that the truth serum test drug ‘sodium pentothal’ could induce coma. "The drug is given in small doses during many medical procedures and it will not harm the person,” he said, adding it was a tactic adopted by the accused to avoid the test.