ive ministers in the Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet and two Congress MPs were regular customers of Tara Chowdary, a small-time Telugu actress who was arrested by the police on 31 March in Hyderabad for running a sex racket. The Banjara Hills police, however, has not released the names of the VIPs involved, saying her claim has to be verified. But two of the suspects have hit the headlines by issuing denials. They are Congress' Guntur MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Agriculture Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana.

Tara was helped in her activities by her husband R. Durga Prasad, a one-time client of hers, and his friend Haneef, a computer expert, who handled the audio and video recordings. "I want to give up this life and lead a clean life in Bangalore, please forgive me," is the plea Tara has made in her statement.

Tara told the police that the Guntur MP used to send his gunmen to fetch her and her girls. She also alleged that he had offered her Rs 1 cr to name minister Lakshminarayana, his political rival. "They are threatening me to use me in their political games," she told the police. But both the MP and the minister denied engaging her call girls.

"As an MP I keep meeting several people and she is one of the many. But I never sent my gunmen to get girls from Tara and never offered her any money to implicate the minister," Sambasiva Rao told this newspaper. Minister Lakshminarayana refused to talk about the matter: "Let all things come out in the investigation." The MP said he was ready to face a CBI probe.Image 2nd

"She (Tara) has cleverly recorded all her conversations on her mobile and stored them in her laptop too. So it is a matter of minutes before we find out who all were in touch with her and the nature of their links," a senior police officer told this newspaper. The police has also found 200 audio CDs featuring conversations with clients. Using spy cams, Tara also videotaped the sexual activities of her clients to "extort money from them" and to keep the girls under her control. The officer has been getting calls from several politicians and business tycoons to know whether their names feature on Tara's list.

Tara and her network of call girls were also hired by a young TDP MLA, two former MLCs, a top Telugu hero, another hero whose films are not doing well, the brother of a top hero, two IAS officers and three IPS officers above the rank of DIG and a retired DGP.

In fact, former DGP, M. Bhaskar has moved the high court seeking anticipatory bail in the case. When contacted, Bhakar said, "I filed this petition to avoid arrest as well as police harassment in this case. I know Tara, but she used to contact me for seeking home guard jobs to some girls known to her. Nothing more than that."

Tara, whose original name is Ravella Rajeswari, in her confession to the police has admitted that she has been running the sex racket since 2005. A heroine of three films, Tara maintained a team of two dozen girls to run a costly network in Hyderabad, Vizag and Bangalore.

Belonging to the backward Prakasam district, Tara studied up to BA and came to Hyderabad in 2002 to become a heroine. After failing to get good offers, she plunged into this line and quickly set up a network of call girls. Her house and a nearby guesthouse on Road No 2, Banjara Hills, used to be visited by many VIPs.Image 3rd

Her modus operandi of getting girls was simple. She would send girls aspiring to become heroines to the clients, touted as potential producers. She also used to visit malls and pubs to shop for girls, and offered them huge amounts of money if they agreed to join her network. "I used to pay Rs 15,000 per week to each of my girls," Tara told the police.

She used to charge from her clients huge sums ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh per session. But she would blackmail whoever stopped visiting her or refused to pay more money. Even the girls who refused to continue were threatened of exposure.

Tara was arrested by the police based on a complaint lodged by a girl, Sri Lakshmi, from Visakhapatnam in the last week of March. Tara was arrested in 2005 too, but was let off because of pressure from top police officers. Tara used to flaunt a photo of her with late CM Y.S.R. Reddy to prevent the police from catching her.