Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) Director General, N. Sanjay, has said that Siemens had no role in the Skill Development scam, and the company did not receive any money from the project.
In a joint press conference organised by Mr. Sanjay and Andhra Pradesh Additional Advocate General P. Sudhakar Reddy, in Delhi on Sunday, the CID chief said the government had released ₹770 crore for four years and the amount, other than Siemens project was used towards skill development.
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The leaders are trying to attribute the entire credit to Siemens and APSSDC project, which was false, he said.
“The former Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, who was the mastermind for the multi-crore scam, had exercised his authority to overrule the officials’ recommendations,” Mr. Sanjay said.
‘Mastermind Naidu overruled the officials’ recommendations’
“The entire project was meticulously orchestrated under the then Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who exercised his authority to override the recommendations and decisions made by the officials entrusted with its execution.
“TDP national general secretary Lokesh has been going around and claiming that close to 2 lakh students were trained under Siemens, which was not true,” Mr. Sanjay said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had indicated that the government’s money to the tune of ₹241 crore was swindled in a dubious manner and established the illegalities.
Police served notice to Mr. Naidu’s personal assistant, Pendyala Srinivas on September 5, but he fled abroad within 24 hours, Mr. Sanjay said.