Chandrababu Naidu: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu was produced before an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court here on Sunday morning, a day after he was arrested in an alleged corruption case. Supreme Court lawyer Siddharth Luthra and a team of lawyers are representing former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Naidu. Senior TDP leaders and party workers gathered in the court premises.
N Chandrababu Naidu was taken to the Government General Hospital in Vijayawada for medical examination at 3.40 pm on Saturday night. Earlier, he was interrogated for about 10 hours at the CID Special Investigation Team (SIT) office in Kunchanpalli here. After about 50 minutes of medical examination at the hospital, Naidu was taken back to the SIT office, while there was a possibility that he would be produced directly in the local court.
TDP spokesperson Pattabhi Ram Komareddy told PTI that the party chief’s son Nara Lokesh, his wife Nara Bhuvaneshwari and others were waiting in the ACB court. “We thought he (Naidu) would be taken to court, but they took him back to the SIT office,” Komareddy said. Lokesh and Bhuvaneshwari were waiting in the court, but suddenly the convoy turned towards the SIT office.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) team had arrested the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh at around 6 am on Saturday morning from outside the RK Function Hall at Gnanapuram in Nandyal city. Naidu was arrested while he was sleeping in his bus equipped with all facilities. Andhra Pradesh Police on Saturday described Naidu as the ‘key conspirator’ in the alleged Skill Development Corporation scam. It is alleged that the state government suffered a loss of Rs 300 crore due to this alleged scam. TDP has decided to hold a mass hunger strike across Andhra Pradesh on Sunday in protest against Naidu’s arrest.
Andhra Pradesh CID arrested Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Started questioning of Chandrababu Naidu, who was named as the ‘key conspirator’ in the alleged Skill Development Corporation scam on Saturday. It is alleged that the state government has suffered a loss of Rs 300 crore due to this alleged scam. Sources said that after Naidu was taken to Vijayawada by road from Nandyal, his interrogation is going on at the CID office here late on Saturday night. Naidu was arrested in Nandyal.
N Chandrababu Naidu was arrested following a police operation in the morning in connection with the alleged fraud. Police officials knocked on the door of his fully equipped bus in which he was sleeping and then arrested him. Andhra Pradesh Police said that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) team arrested the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh at around 6 am from outside the RK Marriage Hall at Gnanapuram in Nandyal city, where his bus was parked.
In the notice served to N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Superintendent of Police M Dhananjayudu of the CID’s Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) said, “You are informed that you will be asked to leave the function hall of R K at Moolasagaram’s residence at Gnanapuram in Nandyal town at 6 am. He has been arrested and it is a non-bailable offence.” According to the notice, Naidu has been arrested under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and 465 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with other relevant sections.
According to the notice, Andhra Pradesh CID has also invoked sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PMLA) against former Chief Minister Naidu. Officials said that notice has been given to N Chandrababu Naidu under Section 50 (1) (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). In a recent meeting held at Raidurgam in Anantapur district, Naidu had hinted that he could be arrested.