GUNTUR: A case has been registered against former Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao’s daughter P Vijayalakshmi in Narasaraopet rural police station. Narasaraopet rural CI D China Mallaiah said Aravapalli Padmavathi lodged a complaint against Vijayalakshmi that she along with two others were demanding ‘K-tax’ from her for purchasing two acres of land at Kesanupalli village.
In her complaint, Padmavathi stated that she purchased two acres of land at Kesanupalli in 2002. Vijayalakshmi, along with Bommisetty Srinivasa Rao and Kalyanam Rambabu, demanded Rs 20 lakh from her if she wants to take up cultivation in the land.
Though she expressed her inability to pay Rs 20 lakh, they continued to threaten her demanding ‘K-tax’. Later, she had agreed to pay Rs 15 lakh and paid the sum in instalments in 2016, 2017 and 2018. But the trio demanded payment of remaining Rs 5 lakh on Thursday. Hence, she approached the police and lodged a complaint against the trio.
An extortion case was also registered against K Siva Ram, son of Kodela, in the One Town police station of Narasaraopet on Friday.
YSR Congress Rajya Sabha member V Vijayasai Reddy had warned that Kodela’s family members could not escape the law for extorting money from people and traders in the name of ‘K-tax’. The YSRC MP alleged that Kodela’s family members collected hundreds of crores of rupees from people in the form of ‘K-tax’. He also said some officials colluded with Kodela’s family members in extortion. He said action would be taken against Kodela’s family members for extortion if the victims lodge police complaint against them.
What is K-tax
There are allegations that the Kodela family was collecting money from people in return for favours for them. In the 2019 elections, a group of TDP leaders and cadre had staged protests at Sattenapalli against the candidature of the then Speaker Kodela Siva Prasad Rao, citing the ‘K-tax’ issue.