The ACB Court remanded Naidu to 14 days of judicial custody for his alleged role in the multi-crore Skill Development Corporation scam
Published Sep 11, 2023 | 11:45 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 11, 2023 | 11:45 AM
Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu in jail. (X)
Home-cooked food, medication, and a special room were among the amenities granted by a court to TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu for his fortnight-long stay in jail.
An ACB Court in Vijayawada directed the superintendent of Rajamahendravaram Central Jail to accommodate 73-year-old Chandrababu Naidu separately in view of the purported threat to his life. The former chief minister is a Z-plus category security protectee.
“The superintendent of central prison is directed to provide all the special amenities including food (cooked at home), medication, and special room in central prison to petitioner/A37 (Naidu),” the Judge ordered.
According to the detention order, the Judge highlighted that there are grounds to believe the accusations levelled against Naidu, and 24 hours were not enough to complete the investigation.
“This is an authorisation to you (superintendent), to detain Naidu in custody, and to cause him to be produced before the Court on the 22nd day of September, 2023 at 10:30 am,” the Judge ordered.
Amid tight security and inclement weather, the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister was sent to Rajamahendravaram from Vijayawada, a distance of about 200 km, in a convoy on the road.
Following Naidu’s dispatch to jail, his son and TDP general secretary, Nara Lokesh, penned an emotional note on X (formerly Twitter), alleging his father was unjustly sent for remand for a crime he never committed.
“My anger simmers, and my blood boils. Is there no limit to the depths political vendetta will sink? Why must a man of my father’s calibre, who has accomplished so much for his country, state, and Telugu people, endure such injustice?” asked Lokesh.
Lokesh said he and his father were “fighters” as he called on people to join him in his battle and sought support from Telugu people worldwide.
I write to you today with a heart heavy with pain and eyes moistened with tears. I’ve grown up watching my father pour his heart and soul into the betterment of Andhra Pradesh and the Telugu people. He never knew a day of rest, tirelessly striving to transform millions of lives.… pic.twitter.com/dF5cBYgsvG
— Lokesh Nara (@naralokesh) September 10, 2023
Janasena party president Pawan Kalyan alleged that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was trying to tar political opponents as criminals and sending them to jail just because he too once did.
According to the actor-politician, who is BJP’s local ally in the southern state, Reddy would not have become the chief minister had laws worked effectively.
• చట్టాలు నిజంగా పని చేస్తే జగన్ ముఖ్యమంత్రి కాలేడు,
• వైఎస్ వివేకానందరెడ్డి గారి కేసులో జైల్లో ఉండాల్సిన వాళ్లు బయట తిరుగుతున్నారు..#HelloAP_ByeByeYCP pic.twitter.com/8Wsqt1zVof
— JanaSena Party (@JanaSenaParty) September 11, 2023
On Sunday, 10 September, the ACB Court in Vijayawada remanded Naidu to 14 days of judicial custody for his alleged role in the multi-crore Skill Development Corporation scam.
Naidu was arrested in a pre-dawn operation on Saturday, 9 September, at Nandyala, which involved officers knocking on the door of the caravan in which he was sleeping.
The former CM was arrested by the CID around 6 am on Saturday from a marriage hall (outside which his caravan was parked) at Gnanapuram in Nandyala.
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
