Andhra Pradesh Congress today demanded a high level probe into the circumstances that forced the state government to ban seven brands of liquor in the state. Reacting on the making former MLA and vijayawada city Congress president Malladi Vishnu accused in liquor deaths case, APCC president N Raghuvira Reddy, accompanied by former RS member N Tulasi Reddy, APCC vice president Dr S Sailajanath and general secretary Jagan Gowtham, demanded that the samples collected from bar should be sent to three labs for correct results.

Government should come out as to why these seven brands had been identified for banning. The PCC president alleged that Malladi Vishnu’s implication as A-9 in the case was a vindictive step. ” Many ministers and MLAs of ruling party have started blaming Vishnu even before the victims had been shifted to the hospital. The was the TDP ministers started accusing Malladi Vishnu shows that the decision to implicate Vishnu was a well thought out plan to silence a voice raising against the TDP government’s failures from Vijayawada,” he said.

He also alleged that the police attempted to extract a statement from employees of the bar against Malladi Vishnu under coercion. He warned that Congress wouldn’t take all these anti-Congress move lying down.

“Vishnu had no role whatsoever in the maintenance of the bar. Inclusion of his name in the FIR as A-9 is a vindictive act as he has been organizing agitations against the failure of TDP government in the fulfillment of poll promises,forceful acquisition of lands from the farmers, price rise etc.” he said.

Vishnu couldn’t be included as the accused in the spurious liquor case simply because he was the owner of the premises where Swarna Bar was functioning, he said. The PCC president also demanded an inquiry into the Machilipatnam incident as well.

Expressing condolences to the bereaved families, the APCC president demanded an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to kin of the deceased.