Video Producer: Shohini Bose
Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam
A day after Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu was arrested by the CID, he was sent to jail for 14 days on Sunday, 10 September.
Earlier in the day, Naidu was produced in an Anti-Corruption Bureau court.
The former Andhra CM was produced in a court in Vijayawada amid tight security as several leaders from his party reached the court too.
In a case of alleged corruption, Naidu was arrested on Saturday from the Nandyal district in connection with the Skill Development Corporation scam.
Here’s what happened on Saturday: After a 10-hour-long interrogation by the CID’s Special Investigation Team, Naidu was taken to the Government General Hospital in Vijayawada at 3:40 am for medical tests.
The party alleged that Naidu was not informed about the reason for his arrest. They also claimed that the police had tried to arrest the former CM in the early hours of Saturday but were stopped by TDP workers.
What the CID said: The CID said that Naidu was involved in a fraud involving approximately Rs 550 crores.
"This case revolves around the establishment of clusters of Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a total estimated project value of Rs 3300 Crores. The alleged fraud has caused huge loss to the Government of Andhra Pradesh in excess of Rs 300 crores," the CID said.
What Naidu said: The former CM took to microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) to write,
"For the past 45 years, I have selflessly served Telugu people. I am prepared to sacrifice my life to safeguard the interests of Telugu people. No force on earth can stop me from serving Telugu people, my Andhra Pradesh and my motherland.”
While being taken into custody, he was also quoted by news agency ANI as saying, “I did not commit any malpractice or corruption. CID arrested me without any proper information and I asked them to show the evidence but they refused to show and attached my name to the FIR without my role.”
What Are the Charges?
Naidu has been charged under various section of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The sections include:
120B: Criminal conspiracy
166: Public servant disobeying law, with intent to cause injury to any person
167: Public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury
418: Cheating with knowledge that wrongful loss may ensue to person whose interest offender is bound to protect
420: Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property
465: Forgery
468: Forgery for purpose of cheating
471: Using as genuine a forged 1[document or electronic record]
409: Criminal breach of trust by public servant
201: Causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed
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