New Delhi: Chandrababu Naidu, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister was arrested today morning by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over alleged charges of corruption.
The TDP chief is accused number 1 in the scam amounting to Rs 371 crores in the Andhra Skill Development Corporation, said a CID official.
The CID team reached Nandyal last night, where Naidu was resting after a public rally. His arrest came after a big midnight drama as party workers mounted a strong opposition to CID team. Naidu was finally arrested today morning at 6 AM and taken to Vijaywara.
TDP spokespersons slammed the CID’s brazen move to arrest him without any evidence. Naidu also speaking to address refuted the charges and called it political vendetta. He reiterated that he was ‘willing to give up his life’ in fight for people’s cause.
What is Skill Development Corporation scam
The CID alleges that Rs 371 crore scam took place under Naidu’s nose while he remained either ‘a complicit or a party’ in the case. It accused the TDP chief of planning, directing & executing the scam.
According to investigative agencies, a large part of Rs 371 core was siphoned off to private entities via shell companies & fake invoices and all this happened under his watch.
When Chandrababu Naidu was Chief Minister, Skill Development Corporation was set up in 2014-15, whose main purpose was to set up Centres of Excellence for Skill development training of the youth. A budget of Rs 3356 crores was allocated for the project.
The investigative agencies claim that Naidu didn’t just oversee its dubious implementation but also misled his cabinet.
The allegations against him include manipulation of contracts, misappropriation of public funds & orchestration of fraudulent scheme under the pretext of skill training centres.
The alleged scam created a row soon after Naidu took as Chief Minister in 2014. However, the matter got died down then. Then reports suggested that govt funds were released to some firms despite objections by finance department.
The issue had again stirred hornet’s nest in 2018 when a whistleblower raised warning bells but then also it failed to grab attention.
