Sand Case: Naidu Files Anticipatory Bail Plea in HC

Vijayawada: Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu has filed a plea for grant of anticipatory bail in a case of anomalies in free sand policy of the previous Telugu Desam government with then chief minister Naidu as Accused No. 2, here on Tuesday. The plea is likely to come up for hearing on Wednesday.

Naidu, in his petition, alleged that the AP CID booked a fresh case on November 1 against him with regard to free sand policy only to keep him away from active politics and to be preoccupied to fight legal cases. He said the FIR filed by the AP CID did not specify the beneficiary agency in the free sand policy and claimed that the Cabinet during his regime gave its nod for the decision on free sand policy. He said the state government conspired to keep him in judicial custody in prison until the completion of ensuing polls in AP.

He said that though the AP CID was supposed to take prior permission from the Governor for booking a case against him as per section 17 A of Prevention of Corruption Act, it failed to do so.

The AP CID had field a case against Naidu in connection with alleged lapses in free sand policy introduced by his government in 2016 and the FIR mentioned the then minister for mines and geology Peethala Sujatha as Accused No. 1, followed by Naidu as Accused No. 2, former MLA Chinthamaneni Prabhakar as Accused No. 3 and former minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao as Accused No. 4 for taking such a decision to benefit a few people and to cause loss to the state exchequer.