Andhra Pradesh witnessed a tense drama that was unprecedented in a long time, following the arrest of Telugu Desam Party national president N. Chandrababu Naidu by the CID at Nandyal in the early hours of Saturday for his alleged complicity in a multi-crore ‘Skill development scam’.
Mr. Naidu was to be produced before the III Additional District and Sessions Judge-cum-Judge, ACB Court Judge B.S.V. Himabindu, but he was being questioned by the CID, which was going on for more than seven hours and continued further into late night despite frantic efforts by his lawyers to have him presented before the judge as per norms.
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra was spearheading Mr. Naidu’s bid to come out on bail, but a breakthrough eluded him and his battery of lawyers at the time of filing this report.
Chandrababu Naidu arrest live | Updates
As Mr. Naidu was confined to the CID office near Tadepalli in Guntur district for several hours, his lawyers filed a house motion petition seeking justice amidst conflicting reports about its admission.
No sooner than the news of Mr. Naidu’s arrest spread earlier in the day did the TDP cadres staged protests across the State. Hisarrest evoked strong resentment from the opposition parties and the TDP cadres picked up confrontation with the police at several places.
Announcing the arrest at a press conference in Amaravati, Additional Director-General of Police (CID) N. Sanjay claimed to have prima facie evidence of Mr. Naidu’s key role in the siphoning of approximately ₹371 crore belonging to A.P. Skill Development Corporation through fictitious companies during the TDP rule between 2014 and 2019.
The APSSDC was supposed to establish centres of excellence at a total cost of nearly ₹3,500 crore in collaboration with a reputed international firm.
Mr. Chandrababu Naidu was camping at Nandyal on September 8 night as part of the Babu Surety - Bhavishyath Ki Guarantee campaign, which is aimed at exposing the Jagan Mohan Reddy government’s misrule.
A team of CID sleuths cordoned off his place of stay and then took him into custody amidst stiff resistance by the TDP leaders and Mr. Naidu himself, who objected to the arrest. Eventually, he signed on the notice of arrest served under Section 50 (1) (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The CID officials took Mr. Naidu into custody after conducting medical tests and shifted him by road to Vijayawada in his own vehicle amidst heavy security. En route, police quelled protesting TDP cadres by force as they tried to stop Mr. Naidu’s convoy.
Mr. Naidu‘s wife Bhuvaneswari and son and former minister Lokesh, who suspended his Yuva Galam Padayatra at Razole in Konaseema district due to the emergency, reached the CID office near Vijayawada after dark and got to meet Mr. Naidu after some time.
Meanwhile, TDP State president K. Atchannaidu called for Statewide protests, including mass hunger strikes, on Sunday. Police forces have been deployed at sensitive public places throughout the State as the law and order situation remained volatile.
Naidu shifted to Government General Hospital (GGH) for medical examinations
Officials of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) shifted former Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu to Government General Hospital (GGH) for medical examinations, around 3.40 a.m. on Sunday.
After questioning for about 10 hours, the CID sleuths shifted Mr. Naidu from the SIT office to GGH amidst tight security.
Mr. Naidu was arrested at 6 a.m. on Saturday in Nandyal by the CID officials in the alleged AP Skill Development Scam.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) activists raised slogans against the government and tried to obstruct the convoy. Police deployed heavy forces at the GGH. Police Commissioner, Kanthi Rana Tata, DCP Ajita Vajendla and other officers supervised the security at the hospital.
A team of doctors conducted medical tests to Mr. Naidu. Police also made heavy bandobust at the ACB Special Court.
