Sajjala lambasts false propaganda, says Chandrababu Naidu arrested with proper evidence

AMARAVATI: YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy has launched a scathing attack on the section of people creating an unnecessary ruckus on the arrest of Andhra Pradesh former Chief Minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu in AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam.

Speaking to media at YSRCP central office in Tadepalle on Wednesday, Ramakrishna Reddy said that Naidu was arrested by the sleuths of Crime Investigation Department (CID) and produced before the ACB court only after gathering proper evidence from the national agencies in the scam. He alleged that the State exchequer suffered losses worth hundreds of crores due to the conspiracy made during the previous TDP regime.

“How will human rights be violated if Naidu is arrested in the scam? The ACB court after hearing the arguments from both the parties in the case, sent the former Chief Minister to judicial remand suspecting chances of fabricating the evidence,” Sajjala said. Siemens representatives themselves said that they had neither entered into any agreement nor received a 90 percent grant in aid during the TDP regime. The funds were diverted to Design Tech and from there the amount was transferred into the accounts of various shell companies, he alleged.

The YSRCP general secretary said that the Enforcement Directorate also conducted a probe into Hawala and questioned where the amount was diverted during the TDP regime. “Naidu is not an exception to the law. The former Chief Minister is being treated with facilities which are not given to those arrested in scams. What is the purpose of arresting Naidu if he is allowed to stay in house custody,” he said, and added that the latter had looted hundreds of crores on the pretext of providing skill and employment opportunities to youth.

Sajjala said that Siemens had done an internal investigation and came up with its report in April 2019. While the skill development corporation was founded in September 2014. Ganta Subba Rao was appointed as the CEO and managing director of APSSDC and former IAS Lakshmi Narayana as advisor to the Corporation. In October 2014, Subba Rao was appointed as ex-officio secretary of higher education and in January 2015, the latter was appointed as secretary to Skill Development Entrepreneurship and Innovation (SDEI) and later ex-officio secretary to the Chief Minister. In February 2015, SDEI was changed to Skill Development Corporation, he said.

Ramakrishna Reddy said that the Goebbels campaign made by Naidu and his friendly media could not correct the mistakes made by him. “Chandrababu Naidu designed a scheme to divert the funds to shell companies and cause huge loss to the State exchequer. We are not aware of Section 161 and 164 CrPc, but two officials have given statements as per 164CrPC in the remand report. Our intention is not to harass Naidu in the case he himself should understand the severity of the case before creating a ruckus in the matter,” Sajjala said.

Taking a jibe at Naidu, Ramakrishna Reddy said that the former Chief Minister was treated with the utmost respect by allowing him to travel in his own vehicle which was not given to any accused. “Naidu is the only person in the world trying to gain sympathy and political mileage through his arrest made with proper evidence in the APSSDC scam,” Sajjala said.