Overview

• Task Force personnel reached Minister Konda Surekha’s Hyderabad residence late Wednesday to detain former OSD N. Sumanth following his removal.
• The Telangana State Pollution Control Board terminated Sumanth on Tuesday after complaints that he extorted cement industry officials and misused authority.
• Surekha’s daughter, Konda Sushmitha, confronted officers, demanded to see legal grounds for the arrest, and accused senior Congress leaders of orchestrating a plot.
• Sumanth, accused of threatening Deccan Cements employees at gunpoint and influencing transfers and clearances, left the house with the minister and has not been detained.
• Surekha’s camp ties the episode to a dispute over Rs 71 crore Medaram Jathara contracts, alleging interference in tenders, while Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy denies lodging a cited complaint.