AP-CID files PT Warrant petition against Naidu in Rs 114 crores AP Fibrenet scam

VIJAYAWADA:  Telugu Desam chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu faces a new storm as the AP-CID filed a prisoner transit warrant petition in the ACB court, seeking his custody for questioning. This is in connection with the AP Fibrenet Phase-I project scam involving a loss of Rs114 crore to the state exchequer.

The AP-CID alleged that the main accused Naidu and the others channelled “the misappropriated funds” through a web of companies belonging to their associates by using fake invoices.

The AP-CID filed a memo at the court here on Tuesday, adding Naidu as Accused 25 in the case, apart from filing the petition seeking a PT warrant. Naidu is currently serving judicial remand at the central prison in Rajahmundry in connection with AP Skill Development Scam worth Rs371 crore.

The CID memo said Naidu should be seen as the main accused as he was the chief minister and held the portfolio of energy, infrastructure, and investment department at the time when the scam took place.

“Naidu personally recommended the execution of the AP Fibernet project by the energy, infrastructure, and investment department, instead of the IT department. He also personally got Vemuri Harikrishna appointed as a member of the governing council-governance authority, despite Harikrishna having a criminal background,” the AP-CID noted.

This apart, “Naidu also gave approval for the estimates of Fibrenet project without considering the fact that no market survey was done for the process of the items or the standards to be followed.”

Moreover, Naidu brought pressure on senior government officials to include Vemuri Harikrishna Prasad in various tender evaluation committees; to revoke the blacklisting done by the government, then prevailing against M/s Terasoftware; to finally award the tender to M/s Terasoftware by silencing the protests from other bidders such as M/s Pace Power and he got the officers seeking fair tender process transferred out and replaced them with more pliable officers.

The other accused in the scam are Vemuri Harikrishna Prasad, managing director of NET India and then a member of the governing council, e-Governance authority; Koganti Sambasiva Rao, formerly VC and MD INCAP and MD, APSFL and presently chief commercial manager, SCR, and others.

With regard to the quantum of loss and embezzlement of government funds, the AP-CID found manipulation of the tender process to allot the work order for phase-I of the AP Fibernet project of Rs 330 crore to a favoured company by “flouting the norms and manipulating the tender process.”

Moreover, several irregularities took place from the allotment of tender to the completion of the total project, causing a huge loss to the state exchequer, the CID memo said.

It said, “Due to the use of substandard material, violation of conditions and non-adherence to specification mentioned in RFP while executing the project, nearly 80 per cent of the capacity of Optic Fiber Cable was rendered unusable. These deviations caused a loss of about Rs114 crore as also further losses due to expensive operation and maintenance works and loss of revenue owing to the use of 80 per cent unsafe optic fibre.”