Andhra Pradesh HC sends Chandrababu to two-day CID custody

The CID had argued that investigation was important in the criminal case and that quashing the arrest was possible only after the investigation was complete. The CID also stated that they have to investigate further to ascertain all the facts.

Dismissing Naidu’s petition, the high court observed that the investigation was in the final stages and the court was not inclined to interfere with the impugned proceedings.

Naidu was arrested by the state CID early on September 9 in connection with the alleged multi-crore AP State Skill Development Corporation scam that occurred during his government’s tenure in 2014-19. An Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court in Vijayawada had sent Naidu to 14-day judicial custody on September 10. He was shifted to Rajahmundry Central Jail, 200 km from Vijayawada, after the court order.

On Friday, the ACB court extended his judicial custody till September 24.

The AP CID is also seeking to interrogate Naidu over alleged irregularities in the construction of Amaravati’s Inner Ring Road, and an alleged scam in AP Fibernet Limited during the TDP regime. The Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government claims that Naidu rejigged the original design of the road to increase the value of lands owned by TDP leaders there. The FIR in the case names Naidu, former minister Ponguru Narayana, businessmen Lingamaneni Ramesh and Lingamaneni Venkata Surya Rajasekhar of Lingamaneni Group of companies, K P V Anjani Kumar of R K Housing Ltd, N Lokesh Naidu, and M/s Heritage Foods Pvt Ltd and others.