Nidigattu Sanjay is a 1996-batch IPS officer who served in different capacities across various districts of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
File photo of AP CID chief N Sanjay. (X/AP_Police_Recru)
It was a red-letter day for Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) chief N Sanjay when his department’s officials, under his direction, arrested former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu from his caravan stationed outside a function hall in Nandyal in the early hours of Saturday, 9 September.
As the pre-dawn arrest put the entire state on edge, Sanjay seized the day a few hours later as he announced Naidu’s arrest for his alleged involvement in the ₹279-crore skill development scam. The announcement sent shockwaves across the nation.
Nidigattu Sanjay, better known as N Sanjay, is a 1996-batch IPS officer who has served in different capacities in undivided Andhra Pradesh in the districts of Warangal, Nalgonda, Kurnool, Ananthapur, Nizamabad, and Hyderabad.
He also served in the Organisation for Counter Terrorist Operations (OCTOPUS) in 2010. He moved to Andhra Pradesh following his allotment to residual state cadre in 2015.
Sanjay took his time in narrating the lurid details of the scam — of how ₹279 crore of the ₹351 crore released by the Andhra Pradesh government was siphoned off.
He wore the satisfied look of a man who has done a good job of the assignment given to him.
Interestingly, by a sheer quirk of fate, it is always either Naidu, his relatives, or those very close to him, that appear to be crossing his path.
Jog your memory to the early days of late YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s regime in 2004. It was when Naidu lost power to the Congress, headed by Reddy.
As Naidu was licking the electoral battle-inflicted wounds, another shocker hit him. His brother-in-law, actor Balakrishna, who later gave his daughter Brahmani to Naidu’s son Lokesh in marriage, shot six bullets in a fit of emotion at film producer Bellamkonda Suresh and his friend Satyanarayana Chowdary.
The incident took place at 8.50 pm on 3 June, 2004, at Balakrishna’s residence in the posh Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad.
The reason for the outburst was said to be a financial dispute. The two persons injured in the shooting were admitted to a hospital, and survived.
Enter N Sanjay — the then deputy commissioner of police of the Hyderabad West Zone. He arrested Balakrishna on charges of attempted murder.
Subsequently, Balakrishna obtained bail and came out of jail. He was acquitted in 2018 as the prosecution could not prove the charges.
Not very long ago, Sanjay breathed down the neck of Margadarshi Chit Fund Pvt Ltd Chairman Ramoji Rao, who is very close to Chandrababu Naidu.
The CID visited Ramoji Rao at his Hyderabad residence and grilled him for over eight hours on 3 April this year regarding alleged violations of the Chit Fund Act of 1982 and the AP Protection of Depositors Financial Establishment Act of 1999.
Then come the most recent developments. With the ACB court in Vijayawada upholding the remand report of the CID, that Naidu was allegedly involved in the skill development scam, and sending him to the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison, Sanjay is now apparently setting his sights on Naidu’s son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh.
He made his resolve known at the news conference he addressed to announce Naidu’s arrest.
He said that the CID was investigating the Fibrenet scam that took place in Andhra Pradesh when the TDP was in power between 2014 and 2019.
He alleged that Lokesh was involved in the scam. “We will investigate that case as well,” said Sanjay.
The Fibrenet scam of Amaravati pertains to alleged irregularities that occurred in the execution of the AP State FiberNet Limited (APSFL) project, meant to provide internet and telephone services to all households in the state.
This was part of the Bharat Net project of the Central government. The scam involved the awarding of contracts worth ₹321 crore to a company called Tera Software Limited.
On Monday, 11 September, the CID filed two petitions in the ACB Court in Vijayawada that suggested that its focus on Naidu was set to intensify. The first petition sought Naidu’s custody for five days for further interrogation.
The second petition filed by the investigation agency was for a prisoner transit (PT) warrant to question Naidu in the under-investigation Amaravati Inner Ring Road scam.
The Inner Ring Road case accused the erstwhile TDP government of resorting to corruption and encroachment of lands.
The CID, in the FIR registered in 2022, said that the government resorted to irregularities while finalising the road’s alignment.
The CID alleged that Naidu and former minister P Narayana were involved in changing the design of the road to facilitate the exponential appreciation of the value of lands owned by TDP leaders and those who close to them.
Jul 06, 2024
Jul 06, 2024
Jul 06, 2024
Jul 06, 2024
Jul 06, 2024
Jul 06, 2024
