Another accused in the human trafficking racket surrendered in a Hyderabad court today. TRS MLA Soyam Bapu Rao, who represents Boath constituency, who had been in hiding since the passport scam broke, today drove to the Hyderabad Police’s Central Crime Station and surrendered before the police.

Bapurao is the second TRS MLA to surrender in the case after another rebel legislator K Lingaiah. According to the police, both the MLAs had similar charges against them and the same modus operandi.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh said: “Bapu Rao also used the passports of his family members to smuggle people from Gujarat abroad.” Officials said that he used the passports of his wife, two sons and daughter to illegally take a Gujarati woman and children abroad. Singh said that he too, like Lingaiah, had changed the photographs on these passports.

Both Lingaiah and Bapu Rao have claimed that they are innocent and accused TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao of waging a vendetta against them. These MLAs were amongst nine dissidents who rebelled against KCR in the recently concluded Legislative Council elections. After Gujarat MP Babubhai Katara was arrested at Delhi Airport in the human trafficking case, police and media offices in Hyderabad were anonymously delivered documents alleging that many TRS legislators were involved in smuggling people abroad.

After this, second-in-command MP A Narendra was suspended from the party. He too was at loggerheads with KCR. When the alleged kingpin of the racket, Rasheed, surrendered, he said he had introduced both Lingaiah and Bapu Rao to the racket and had taken their passports to forge. He had also named Narendra, but police said they have no documentary evidence to support his claims. He had also named KCR saying his PA had introduced him to other legislators.