TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh has been asked to present himself at the CID office in Vijayawada on 4 October.
TDP leader Nara Lokesh. (Supplied)
The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the Amaravati Inner Ring Road (IRR) case, issued a notice to TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh in connection with the case in New Delhi on Saturday, 30 September.
It asked him to appear at its office in Vijayawada at 10 am on 4 October.
Nara Lokesh CID notice
A special team from AP CID left for New Delhi on Friday and issued the notice under Section 41A CrPC to Lokesh, who is in New Delhi and is reportedly meeting eminent lawyers and senior politicians after the arrest of his father and former chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu from Nandyal on 9 September in the ₹370 crore Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam.
Naidu, who is in judicial custody till 5 October, is lodged in Rajahmundry central prison.
Lokesh was reportedly found at the office of TDP MP Galla Jayadev on Ashoka Road in New Delhi. He informed the CID team through a WhatsApp message that he received the notice.
A few days ago, the CID had filed a memo in the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court informing it that Lokesh is Accused No 14 (A14) in the case.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court earlier dismissed the anticipatory bail petition of Lokesh in the IRR case. Andhra Pradesh Addtional Advocate General (AAG) informed the court that notices under Section 41(A) of CrPC would be served on Lokesh.
The CID alleged that Lokesh played a crucial role in trying to make changes to the alignment of the Inner Ring Road in the proposed greenfield capital of Amaravati. He was also facing allegations for helping industrialist Lingamaneni Ramesh’s family in the capital region. Ramesh is A3 in this case.
The names of Chandrababu Naidu and former Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana, along with other private individuals and companies were also mentioned in the case.
Chandrababu Naidu and Narayana’s names were included in the case as they played a key role in designing the Master Plan and making changes to the alignment of the IRR.
Based on a complaint lodged by the YSRCP MLA A Ramakrishna Reddy, the CID registered the case against them in 2022 for allegedly committing illegal activities till 2019 pertaining to the capital Amaravati, within a few months of coming to power in 2014.
Reddy alleged that the then ruling party leaders, including Naidu, Narayana and others, designed the Master Plan and the alignment of the IRR and connecting arterial roads to cause wrongful gain to some selected persons and companies associated to the decision-making authorities, thus leading to a loss to the public and the government exchequer.
The case was booked under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and also under provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act-1988.
It was alleged that Naidu, who was also an ex-officio chairman of Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA), and others also alienated assigned lands in the capital area.
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