Techies protest, security tightened as CID interrogates TDP chief

A Vijayawada Anti-Corruption Bureau court on Sunday extended the judicial custody of Telugu Desam Party chief and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu till October 5 in the alleged Skill Development scam case. With Naidu’s custody ending on Sunday, he was produced before the court virtually from Rajahmundry Central Jail. “Chandrababu Naidu was interrogated in Rajahmundry Central Jail. The interrogation went on for 7 hours. CID recorded Chandrababu’s statement in the presence of lawyers,” an official said.
Andhra Pradesh police on Sunday early morning carried out surprise checks of vehicles coming from Telangana at the state border. This action was taken in response to the ‘Chalo Rajahmundry’ call by Hyderabad IT employees, as a mark of their protest against the arrest of former Andhra CM and Telugu Desam Party, chief N. Chandrababu Naidu. Visuals showed barricades set up at the Andhra-Telangana border, with police actively inspecting vehicles arriving from Telangana.
In the meantime, several IT employees in Hyderabad have been protesting the arrest of the TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu; a group had on Saturday announced that it would mobilise a car rally from Hyderabad to Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada on Sunday. However, permission for the same was denied by the Andhra police. TDP chief Naidu is lodged in Rajahmundry Central Prison in connection with the alleged skill development scam. As per the reports, police officials were instructed by Vijayawada Commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata to restrict the entry of IT employees to the state. Mylavaram ACP Ramesh said that has issued restriction orders under CrpC Section 144 in Vijayawada and anyone who violates the orders will be booked under relevant sections. “…There is information that IT employees of Hyderabad are planning to come to Rajahmundry from Hyderabad to extend their support to the ex-CM Chandrababu Naidu..there is no permission for them to come to Rajahmundry…section 144 has been enforced in Vijayawada city…in case of violation of orders we will take legal action and put them (IT employees) under appropriate sections…we appeal them not to violate the concerned sections and not go to Rajahmundry…” said ACP Ramesh. Earlier this week, Security arrangements were tightened outside the Rajahmundry Central Prison.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court in Vijayawada on Friday extended Naidu’s remand for two more days. The court ruled that the TDP chief will be in the custody of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) from 9 am to 5 pm during which he will be interrogated. Chandrababu Naidu was sent to judicial custody on September 10 for 14 days, till 23 September, by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court in Vijayawada in connection with an alleged Skill Development Corporation scam.
The case in which Naidu is arrested pertains to the establishment of clusters of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a total estimated project value of Rs 3300 crore, as per the officials. The agency officials also claimed that the alleged fraud has caused a huge loss to the state government in excess of Rs 300 crore.