Naidu, ex-mantri get CID notice in Amaravati deal

Vijayawada: Authorities probing the alleged land scam in the proposed capital city Amaravati have summoned former chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu and former municipal minister P Narayana for questioning on March 23.
The AP Crime Investigation Department (CID) served the notices in Hyderabad on Tuesday, asking both to appear before the CID regional office in Vijayawada.
Naidu and Narayana have been accused of indulging in insider trading in land parcels in Amaravati. They were also booked under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Naidu’s son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh said the case was ‘silly’, pointing to the Andhra Pradesh high court’s earlier judgment on January 19 dismissing the insider trading case while observing there was ‘no evidence’. “After searching for 21 months, based on (Alla Ramakrishna) Reddy’s complaint, they have stooped low to file an SC/ST case,” Lokesh tweeted.
So far, the CID has booked close to 20 cases against TDP leaders and real estate developers alleging that they were involved in insider trading. The new notices relate to a fresh FIR registered against Naidu and Narayana on March 12 in the case.
The notices were issued under CrPC Section 41. The FIR was registered based on a complaint filed by Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, YSRCP legislator from Mangalagiri, on February 25. The FIR mentions that the case was filed after a DSP-rank officer, who is investigating the complaint, submitted a preliminary report on March 12. Naidu is booked as accused No.1 in the FIR. Narayana is listed as accused No. 2.
The CID has invoked Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 166 (public servant disobeying law), 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document), and 217 (public servant disobeying direction of law) of IPC, Section 3 (1) (f), (g) of SC and ST (POA) Act and also Section 7 of AP Assigned Land Act 1977.
The YSRCP MLA in his complaint alleged that he had received representation from a few residents of his constituency that some of the “influential persons of the then government had cheated them by taking away their land illegally”.
The FIR claimed that the complainant (Ramakrishna) had verified the government orders issued by the then government and found several irregularities committed by the accused causing ‘irreparable loss’ to the SC and ST community and weaker sections.
After the additional director-general of police (CID) received the complaint, he had appointed DSP S Surya Bhaskar Rao to conduct a preliminary inquiry and submit a report. The preliminary report stated that cognisance of offence was carried out and based on that the ADGP, CID, ordered to register a case.