AP-CID seeks five-day custody of Naidu for second time, hearing on bail petition also posted to Tuesday

VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) in a fresh petition filed in the ACB special court in Vijayawada on Monday, sought five-day custody of former Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu in connection with the skill development scam. Naidu’s two-day custody ended on Sunday.

The CID in its petition pointed out that the accused did not cooperate with the CID officers during the two-day long questioning. The CID said that he procrastinated by insisting on thoroughly reading the order copy. The investigation agency said that he continued the delaying tactics even after the one-hour-long lunch break. Chandrababu thwarted the efforts of the officers by exhibiting his superiority as former Chief Minister of the State, the CID said.

At the ACB court, Naidu’s counsel Pramod Dubey Additional Advocate General (AAG) Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy and special public prosecutor Vivekananda on behalf of the CID argued keenly on the issue of precedence of custody over bail petitions. The Court finally posted a hearing of the custody petition on Tuesday and said that it would hear the bail petition only after the outcome of the custody petition was known.

As a result of the posting of the hearing of custody petition to Tuesday, the bail petition of Chandrababu Naidu in the Rs 371 crore skill development scam case will be heard on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the counsel for Naidu filed another petition with the ACB special court seeking details of the call records of the CID officials who arrested him in Nandyal on November 8, 2023.