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Vijayawada: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu was on Sunday produced before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court in Vijayawada in connection with an alleged Skill Development Corporation scam. Officials told news agency ANI that the former CM was produced before the court within 24 hours of his arrest. Prior to this, he was taken to Vijayawada government hospital for medical checkup. He was later taken back to the SIT office.
The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister is being represented by Supreme Court lawyer Siddarth Luthra and a team of advocates. Several TDP senior leaders and the party cadre gathered at the court complex.
The TDP chief’s son Nara Lokesh, wife Nara Bhuvaneswari and others were waiting at the ACB Court, TDP spokesperson Pattabhi Ram Kommareddy told PTI.
“We thought that he would be taken to the court. But they brought him back to the SIT office. Lokesh and Bhuvaneswari were waiting at the Court but all of a sudden the convoy turned towards the SIT office,” Kommareddy said.
Wondering whether Naidu would be produced in the court before 24 hours of arrest, he said they were surprised and confused.
Notably, the former Andhra Pradesh CM was arrested in connection with the alleged Skill Development Corporation scam after a pre-dawn police operation at Gnanapuram in Nandyala on Saturday. He was arrested by the CID around 6 AM from a marriage hall outside which his caravan was parked.
It has been alleged that the scam led to a Rs 300-crore loss to the state exchequer. The TDP chief has been named the ‘principal conspirator’ in the case.
As per the CID, the investigation has revealed serious irregularities such as before any expenditure by private entities, the then state government provided an advance of Rs 371 crores, representing the entire 10 per cent commitment by the government.
Most of the money advanced by the government was diverted to shell companies through fake invoices, with no actual delivery or sale of the items mentioned in the invoices, CID officials said.
In its remand report, the CID has said that according to the investigation so far, the total amount spent by private entities on six skill development clusters is sourced exclusively from funds advanced by the Government of AP and AP Skill Development Center, totalling Rs 371 crores.
In the meantime, the TDP gave a call to its supporters to take part in a one-day fast in every Assembly constituency on Sunday to protest against Naidu’s arrest.
(With inputs from agencies)
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