Naidu arrested in Rs 3,300 cr Skill Development Corpn scam case in morning drama

Kurnool/Vijayawada: Telugu Desam chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu was arrested by the CID from Nandyal at 6 am on Saturday and shifted to Vijayawada, in connection with the Rs 3,300-crore AP Skill Development Corporation scam case, amid public hullabaloo and mounting tension.

TD MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao was arrested in Visakhapatnam over his alleged involvement in the scam as he was the education minister at the time.

Meanwhile, the Telugu Desam legal team and Supreme Court senior advocate Siddartha Luthra moved a House Motion with the ACB Special Court Judge stating how several norms were violated during the arrest of Naidu by the AP CID and also sought bail in case of imposition of judicial remand keeping in mind the health and advanced age of Naidu.

The AP CID also planned to seek the custody of Naidu for further interrogation and is likely to produce Naidu before the court in the early hours of Sunday.

Meanwhile, TD leaders including Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao, Nakka Ananda Babu, Pattabhi Ram and Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, among several others, were placed under house arrest to prevent an escalation of the law and order situation.

AP CID’s additional DG N. Sanjay said later in a press conference: “We arrested Chandrababu Naidu in Nandyal at six o’clock this morning. He is the main accused in the skill development scam, the main conspirator in this scam and the final beneficiary is also Chandrababu Naidu. The investigation revealed that Chandrababu Naidu was the main accused. That’s why we arrested him. He needs to be questioned to get more details in this scam.”

“The CID is investigating into whose accounts the government money was diverted illegally. The CID is also investigating the role of Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh. The CID is also investigating the role of Kilaru Rajesh. Apart from these, Lokesh’s role in the AP Fiber Net and Inner Ring Road scams will also be investigated in depth,” the additional DG said.

Cases were registered against Naidu under sections 109 (abetment), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 166 and 167 (offence by a public servant), 418 and 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (preparation of forged documents), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code.

On Friday, the situation in Nandyal, where Naidu was holding a roadshow, turned tense as six buses containing hundreds of police personnel drove in at midnight.

As the police started setting up barricades and drawing oyt party supporters and media personnel from the RK Function Hall, where Naidu was staying, party activists gathered and resisted the police attempts to enter the venue. A heated argument ensued between the two sides.

Around 3.30 am, the police attempted to enter the bus in which Naidu was resting, but party leaders strongly resisted their attempt. They demanded an explanation from the police and the need to make the arrest at that particular time.

The police insisted on going ahead, saying they would explain the matter to Naidu in person. This further infuriated the TD activists. The police then removed vehicles from the function hall and arrested TD activists and, subsequently, spoke with Naidu.

Former minister Bhuma Akhila Priya, and former MLAs Bhuma Brahmananda Reddy and B.C. Janardhan Reddy were detained and taken to the police station.

Around 5.30 am, Naidu met the police and expressed his concern about his rights being violated. Naidu resisted his arrest, asking the officials for prima facie evidence on his role in the scam and whether his name was mentioned in the FIR. The police said that all details were incorporated in the remand report that would be submitted to the ACB special court.

Naidu said, “It is very unfortunate that democracy is getting murdered publicly. Even an ordinary citizen has the fundamental right to know the reason for his arrest and when I asked the CID police about the prima facie evidence, they did not respond to me. I appeal to the people and the party cadre to maintain calm. I have been fighting for the problems of the people in the last four-and-a-half-years and the government wants to arrest me and send me to jail. It is a pre-planned move to stop me from fighting for the people in the state.”

When Naidu’s lawyers requested to see the evidence, the police referred to the remand report. After an hour of arguments, the police served Naidu with a notice, citing charges of corruption. They promised to send all requested documents via WhatsApp. Subsequently, Naidu underwent a medical examination and was escorted to Vijayawada at about 8 am.

Naidu refused to be flown to Vijayawada in a helicopter and the police allowed him to travel in his convoy, to produce him before the magistrate.

On his way, a large number of TD supporters tried to stop the convoy, forcing the police to take alternative routes. Tension mounted at Chilakaluripet, when a large number of TD supporters led by former minister Prathipadu Pulla Rao staged a ‘rasta roko.’ Naidu stepped down from his vehicle and appealed to his supporters to let him move.

Meanwhile, Naidu’s wife Bhuvaneswari arrived in Vijayawada and visited the Kanaka Durga temple. Later, she told mediapersons that she prayed to the deity to protect her husband and give him the strength to face the ordeal. She said that her husband had been fighting for the rights and welfare of the people in the state and called upon the people to support him.

She found support from several political leaders of the BJP, Jana Sena and Left parties, who united in condemning the YSRC.

AP BJP chief D. Purandeswari extended her support to Naidu and questioned how he could be arrested without following due procedure, while Jana Sena Pawan Kalyan chief called Naidu’s arrest a “political vendetta”.

Kalyan also tried to fly to Vijayawada from the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, but his chartered flight was denied permission to take off.

TD MLA and Telugu actor Nandamuri Balakrishna, referring to the YSRC, called it “unfortunate to target the Opposition parties instead of paying more attention on the welfare of the people”.

Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh was not allowed by the police to leave his Yuvagalam camp at Podalavada village in Razole mandal for several hours, but was later allowed to go to Vijayawada.

Supreme Court senior advocate Siddartha Luthra flew to Vijayawada to argue the case on behalf of Naidu, with his legal team of the opinion that all sections under which Naidu was booked were bailable, except for one. They intend to argue that one section would not be applicable in the case, so that Naidu would be set free.

Naidu’s counsel was set to go up against the Additional Advocate General, Ponnavolu Sudhakar, at the ACB court in the evening.

RTC bus services were affected in the morning as the police stopped them from leaving the depots as a precautionary measure to avert property loss during any potential violence.