Skill Scam: Officer questions arrest, CID claims strong case against Chandrababu Naidu

HYDERABAD: PV Ramesh, former IAS officer and Principal Secretary of Finance Department of Andhra Pradesh in Chandrababu Naidu's regime, questioned the AP CID about his involvement in the skill development scam that allegedly led to the arrest of Naidu.

The CID had previously recorded Ramesh’s statement in connection with the scam. There were several claims doing the rounds that that the CID had filed a case against Chandrababu Naidu based on Ramesh’s statement.

Questioning the claims, Ramesh said, “I doubt there is there foul play in the arrest of Chandrababu Naidu by AP CID. The fact that they are spreading a narrative that I have turned approver in the case and that the whole case is based on my inputs is laughable. A Chief Minister looks after hundreds of aspects of administration. I don’t understand how he can be held responsible for a case in one particular scheme.”

Ramesh added that the finance department did nothing wrong with the skill development programme and added that the CID's operations were sketchy.

“The Skill Development managing director and the secretary are the ones who will be responsible for the fiscal transactions, and not the Chief Minister himself. I don’t find their names in the case file. A Chief Minister can't be arrested over possible frauds that could be done by a concerned employee or a governing officer,” Ramesh claimed.

Responding to Ramesh's statement, the CID responded that Ramesh's statement was just part of the investigation and that a case was not registered based on his statement alone.

"The entire case was not based on Ramesh's statement alone. This is only part of the investigation. All the evidence is there. Ramesh's comment while the case is in sub-judice will influence the investigation. Ironically, the case was not built poorly,' CID responded.