Naidu gets minor relief in IRR case, CID told not to arrest him till Monday; Lokesh grilled for 2nd day

Naidu and several other TDP leaders are facing charges for allegedly inciting an attack on local leaders of the ruling YSRCP in Angallu village in Madanapalle mandal in Chittoor district on 7 September.

Several YSRCP workers and policemen were injured in the attack and vehicles were also damaged. Naidu, however, denied any involvement in the incident and claimed that the YSRCP government had set him up in the case to harass him and his party workers.

The high court also asked the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court in Vijayawada not to issue any orders on the petitions moved by the CID for Nadiu’s custody till Monday in the IRR scam case.

Related: What Andhra CID said in its memo in court on Amaravati IRR scam

Lokesh questioned in IRR scam

Meanwhile, CID’s questioning of TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh for his alleged involvement in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road scam entered its second day.

The CID reportedly asked Lokesh if he used his position as a minister to change the alignment of the road to favour his company, Heritage Foods Ltd, and a few other individuals, including industrialist Lingamaneni Ramesh, who own land in the area.

On Heritage Foods, Lokesh, in his interaction with the media after his questioning, said he had pointed out that the company was founded in 1992 when Chandrababu Naidu was in the )pposition. It was listed in 1994, and all the relevant documents are available in the public domain.

Andhra Potboiler: Naidu’s arrest sparks battle for 2024; but who will benefit?

Lokesh said he had told the CID that ₹27 lakh had been paid to Lingameneni Ramesh as rental advance and therefore staying on the premises of a building owned by him does not become a quid pro quo gesture.

The CID, according to Lokesh, then asked him why it was now disclosed in the IT returns to which he had said he could not answer the question as the auditor would know the details.

Lokesh, speaking to media persons, said that neither he nor his family members had any role in the manipulation of the alignment of the Amaravati Inner Ring Road.

“For the last 10 years, I have been placing the details of our assets before the people,” he said.

Lokesh said the CID officials asked the same questions, unrelated to the IRR case, on the second day as well. He said he was asked 47 questions, but only four of them were related to the IRR case.

He also contended that he consented to questioning on the second day, despite the Andhra Pradesh High Court instructing him to attend for only one day.

Related: Why the Nara women may have to pick up the TDP mantle

‘Why is CID not grilling IAS officers’

Lokesh questioned the government why the CID was not grilling IAS officers L Premchandra Reddy and Ajeya Kallam, who were earlier suspected to have been involved in the skill development case. The CID later gave them a clean chit.

Premchanda Reddy was the managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (PSSDC) and Ajeya Kallam was secretary, Finance Department. The CID had said that they, in fact, had opposed the violations in the procedures.

Lokesh said that the CID officials had asked him questions they had posed to him yesterday in a different form.

Targeting Jagan

In his media interaction, Lokesh vented ire at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP supremo YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. He alleged that Jagan was using public funds to pay the salaries of employees of his media group Sakshi. He recalled that the Delhi High Court had issued notices to Jagan and his wife, Bharathi, in a case against the Sakshi Group.

Lokesh also contended that no industrialist was willing to invest in the state due to the corrupt governance of Jagan Mohan Reddy.