Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest: Sajjala denies political motive

Reacting to allegations by Naidu that he was arrested on political grounds, YSRCP general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy told media persons that Naidu knew well about this which was why he talked about the imminent arrest for the past couple of days

Guntur: The arrest of former Chief Minister and leader of the opposition N Chandrababu Naidu was in the wake of a through probe by the CID without any political bias, Advisor to the government and YSR Congress Party general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said.

Reacting to allegations by Naidu that he was arrested on political grounds, he told media persons here on Saturday that Naidu knew only well about this which was why he talked about the imminent arrest for the past couple of days. “Now he says his name is not in the FIR and that the arrest is politically motivated. However, the case is very strong. This has not happened overnight. The FIR was filed almost two years ago,” he pointed out.

---

Although the CID registered the FIR in December 2021, a team led by GST DIG revealed in 2017-18 itself that Rs.241 crore was diverted, he recalled. The GST probe had revealed the scam even before the FIR was registered and the CID had strong evidence with regard to the role of the then Chief Minister in it. There were allegations that the funds were diverted through shell companies, he said.

Describing it as a government-aided scam, Ramakrishna Reddy said that even after the MoU was reached, there were objections from government officials which were mentioned in their note files. “The CID identified that the hawala money was transferred through DesignTech into TDP leaders’ accounts. Only after establishing that the scam took place at the behest of Naidu, the CID is probing the case. In fact, the scam came into the light through a whistle blower as early as in 2018 and many agencies conducted inquiry in other states on this. Why didn’t Naidu order an impartial probe into corruption which took place during his tenure?,” he asked.

Noting that it was common to take into custody and question a person who faced allegations, he said one could not keep quiet even after two years. “This is only a probe into the scam, not politics. If it is political vendetta, it won’t take so long. It took time to find out how the money changed hands. Only after knowing that Naidu is the beneficiary, he was arrested in the scam he orchestrated,” he stated.