New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh CID Addl. DGP N Sanjay said that we followed proper procedures in the arrest of AP former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the Rs 371 crore alleged fraud case in AP Skill Development Corporation.

He rejected allegations by the Chandrababu’s son Nara Lokesh that its action was in violation of laws. CID Additional DG N Sanjay briefed along with Additional Advocate General P Sudhakar Reddy on Sunday at New Delhi that the agency was under pressure to clarify the facts related to the Skill Development Corporation scam that occurred in 2015-16 in AP.

He also said that several TDP leaders were spreading mis-information about the case. The former AP CM Chandrababu is currently in judicial remand for his alleged role in this scam. He has filed two petitions in the High Court which is scheduled to hear the matter on September 19^th.

It is responsibility of the CID to clarify the several political leaders are going around giving their version and there is so much mudslinging against the particular Judge, CID, and Government of the day.

He answered to a question of a scribe about the urgency of holding a media briefing in the national capital ahead of the Court hearing, he said that in social media, so much filth has been generated. There is also a lot of pressure on CID to come out and clarify.

AP CID Chief N Sanjay explained that the AP Skill Development Corporation was established without prior cabinet approval and even the tripartite agreement was signed without the proper signatures of the parties Siemens India and DesignTech.

The agreement did not mention the government order number and date and even the 90:10 funding formula. But about Rs 330 crore money was transferred to the DesignTech. With GST of Rs 41 crore, the total scam amount comes to Rs 371 crore, and that the money was further sent to shell companies, he said.

We have not violated any laws as the amendment to the Act took place in 2018 and the crime occurred before that. He explained that the made by Lokesh on CID violation of Section 17(A) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 while arresting Chandrababu, he said.

AAG P Sudhakar Reddy said the 2018 amendment did not with retrospective effect. The provisions of the law were followed, he asserted. Section 17(A) of the 2018 amendment law stipulates prior approval of a competent authority for conducting an investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant and investigation by an officer not less than the DGP level.

On another allegation that the CID has not arrested two officials Prem Chandra Reddy and Ajay Kallam Reddy who had approved the project and released the funds, Sanjay said these two officials are not the conceiver of the project. We have caught hold of the conceiver of the project. In the process of our investigation, we will examine all officials involved in the project. We need to examine back and forth, he said.

Sanjay further said that some of the officials were forced to sign by the then CM Chandrababu but those officers have maintained shadow files separately to make themselves clear at a later date. This shows that they are not directly involved in the crime. They have been roped in to carry out, he said.

The CID Chief Sanjay also said that there are 37 accused, out of which 13 are company undertakings and 24 are individuals.  10 have been arrested out of 24 individuals so far. Seven have sought anticipatory bail. Another seven have to be arrested, he added.