Enforcement Directorate attaches Rs 130 crore worth Indu assets

Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 130 crore including lands of Lepakshi in Anantapur on Thursday belonging to the Indu group of companies owned by industrialist I. Shyam Prasad Reddy.

This is the second attachment of properties of the Indu group.

Earlier, the ED attached properties worth Rs 53 crore of Indu in the Y.S. Jagan quid pro quo investments case. In the latest attachment around 8,648 acres in Anantapur worth Rs 113 crore and other properties of group companies were attached. It is alleged that the accused Shyam Prasad Reddy pledged government allotted land, secured loans and used it to clear debts and diverted funds to other group companies.

ED joint director K.S.V.V. Prasad said, “Investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act revealed that Shyam Prasad Reddy has laundered the proceeds of crime through his group companies by selling and transferring illegally allotted lands. He obtained bank loans by pledging part of the land allotted by the Andhra Pradesh  Industrial Infrastru-cture Corporation and used the funds for other than the designated purposes like clearing debts and diverting funds for other group companies.”

He said, “During investigation the proceeds of crime were identified. Three immovable properties worth Rs 128.5 crore and two movable properties valued at Rs 1 crore were provisionally attached.”

The CBI has filed a charge sheet against Jagan Mohan Reddy, Indu Projects MD Shyam Prasad Reddy alleging that Shyam paid bribes to Jagan disguised as investments in group companies through the companies of industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad as quid pro quo for favours received from the then Andhra Pradesh government led by Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.