Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh:

A Vijayawada Anti-Corruption Bureau court on Sunday extended the judicial custody of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu till October 5 in the alleged Skill Development scam case. 

With Mr Naidu’s custody ending today, he was produced before the court virtually from Rajahmundry Central Jail in Andhra Pradesh.

The court first sent him to 14 days of judicial custody on September 10 after being produced before it by the Andhra Pradesh CID which arrested him in the early morning on September 9 in the multi-crore ‘scam’ case.

The case involves alleged misappropriation in the establishment of clusters of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a total estimated project value of Rs 3,300 crore.

Agency officials claimed that the alleged fraud had caused a huge loss to the Andhra Pradesh State government in excess of Rs 300 crore.

Mr Naidu on Saturday approached the Supreme Court seeking to quash the FIR against him in connection with the case after his plea for the same was rejected by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

As per the CID, Mr Naidu was the principal conspirator and “accused no 1” in the alleged Rs 371 crore skill development scam.

In its remand report, the CID has said that according to the investigation so far, the total amount spent by private entities on six skill development clusters is sourced exclusively from funds advanced by the Government of AP and AP Skill Development Centre, totalling Rs 371 crores.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

An anti-corruption court cited “security” as it rejected a house custody plea for jailed ex-Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who will now spend the rest of his two-week remand period in jail, unless he gets relief in the form of bail. On Tuesday Mr Naidu had been sent to judicial custody after he was arrested in connection with an alleged multi-crore scam.

The court in Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada rejected arguments from Mr Naidu’s legal team and his wife, who spoke of her “worry for his safety inside jail”. “I did not see any special arrangements made for him,” she told reporters after the court refused to quash Mr Naidu’s remand order.

“I felt I left a part of me inside. They have tied him up in the building he helped construct,” she said.

Mr Naidu’s wife, Bhuvaneswari; his son, Lokesh; and his daughter-in-law, Brahmani; met the former Chief Minister at the jail in Rajahmundry, to which he was taken on Sunday. Bhuvaneswari called on workers from her husband’s Telugu Desam Party to speak out and support him.

READ | Home-Cooked Meals, Special Room For Chandrababu Naidu In Andhra Jail

“Not just TDP cadre… but the people need to stand up for Mr Naidu, who always put the welfare of the people before that of his family. I give you my word that the TDP, established by Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (who is her father), is here to stay,” she declared.

READ | Chandrababu Naidu “Non-Cooperative, Gave Vague Replies”: Andhra Cops To Court

The TDP founder, referred to by his initials – NTR – invoked Telugu pride to establish his party as a force to be reckoned with in a short period of time.

Earlier today, actor-politician Balakrishna – a party lawmaker from Hindupur and NTR’s son, said it was time for the people to “throw out” Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. “No need to be afraid of anyone. I am coming… will show them valour and strength of Telugu people.”

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Police’s Crime Investigation Department has sought five-day custody of Mr Naidu, arguing they need to interrogate him as the alleged is a serious economic offence and as the “prime conspirator”, Chandrababu Naidu, had “full knowledge” of events.

What Is The Skill Development Corporation Scam?

The multi-crore scam deals with money allocated to the Department of Skill Entrepreneurship and Innovation by the state, and incorporated into the 2015-16 budget.

According to the CID, inquiries revealed serious irregularities, specifically, before any expenditure by private entities, the then government provided an advance of Rs 371 crores, representing the entire 10 per cent commitment by the government.

READ | The Rs 371-Crore Scam That Led To Chandrababu Naidu’s Arrest: Explained

Most of the money advanced was diverted to shell companies through fake invoices, with no actual delivery or sale of items mentioned in invoices, officials said.

CID officials have also said senior government officials, including then chief secretary IYR Krishna Rao, made notings in related files. They had objected to the advance release of funds to Design Tech and noted that this was being done on the instructions of N Chandrababu Naidu.