In Telangana’s “Operation Lotus,” the High Court orders the accused to surrender to the police.

On Saturday, the High Court ordered three men accused by Telangana police of attempting to poach MLAs from Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s party to surrender to the Cyberabad Police Commissioner.

The order overruled a lower anti-corruption court, which refused to take the three men into police custody on Thursday night, citing the police’s failure to provide proper notice to the accused.

The High Court was hearing a revision petition filed by the Cyberabad Police Department, which challenged the lower court’s decision. The High Court ruled that the three accused should be imprisoned the next time the police brought them before the court.

Notices were issued to the respondents in another High Court petition filed by the BJP, asking for an investigation by a “neutral” agency, such as the CBI or a Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the court. The Cyberabad Police were told not to continue their investigation until the plea was resolved.

Gujjula Premendar Reddy, the BJP’s state general secretary, had petitioned the High Court for the case to be transferred to the CBI, accusing the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) of attempting to defame his party. He also claimed that the Chief Minister was putting pressure on the police.

On Wednesday night, the accused were apprehended in a farmhouse near Hyderabad. Police said they were caught in the act of offering bribes to four TRS MLAs to switch to the BJP, a formula dubbed “Operation Lotus” by the party’s opponents.