Chandrababu Naidu arrest updates | TDP chief sent to 14-day judicial custody in alleged corruption case; Section 144 imposed across A.P.

The Telugu Desam Party has called for a statewide bandh on Monday in protest against the arrest of its party chief and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in connection with a misappropriation of government funds case.

In a statement, TDP A.P. president K. Atchannaidu requested the party cadre, people, and civil society to participate in the agitation and make it a success.

“The Telugu Desam Party has called for a statewide bandh tomorrow, Monday (September 11) in protest against the illegal arrest of Nara Chandrababu Naidu, atrocities on the party cadre, and vengeful politics,” a press release from the party said.

- PTI

With a court sending Mr. Naidu to 14-day remand, a high alert was sounded across the State. The TDP chief was likely to be shifted to Rajamahendravaram Central Jail

Keeping the law the order issue in view, the authorities concerned imposed Section 144 of the Cr.P.C. across the State, and people were advised not to move in groups and carry any lethal weapons.

TDP chief and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu has been sent to 14-day judicial custody till September 23 in connection with the alleged A.P. skill development corporation scam case.

In the run-up to the pronouncement of judgment in the multi-crore corruption case in which TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu is accused, Andhra Pradesh police have taken up strict measures to deal with the fallout of an adverse verdict.

Several police personnel were deployed across Vijayawada city, where the ACB Court will pronounce its verdict in the Skill Development Corporation Scam.

“The prosecution has submitted the remand report and we are waiting for the judgment. It is a high profile case. He (Mr. Naidu) is an ex-CM, so all security arrangements have been made,” Vijayawada South Division ACP Ravi Kiran said.

- PTI

Several voices, including some from abroad extended support to TDC chief Chandrababu Naidu, calling his arrest illegal.

Global technology company Zoho’s chief executive Sridhar Vembu on Sunday expressed shock over Naidu’s arrest.

“I was shocked to read that Chandrababu Naidu-ji was arrested yesterday. I know him and he worked so hard to bring so many companies, including Zoho, to Andhra Pradesh. I hope justice prevails,” said Vembu in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Meanwhile, TDP supporters, who came out to observe a one-day fast protesting Naidu’s arrest were thwarted by police in Kanigiri in Prakasam district today, a party official said. Similar protests were thwarted by police at Srikalahasti in Tirupati district and Kovvuru in East Godavari district, he added.

- PTI

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) State president K. Atchannaidu has alleged that the way the remand report in the arrest of party national president N. Chandrababu Naidu was written makes it evident that “the CID is working for Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy”.

Alleging that the report was prepared by just assumptions to “target” Mr. Naidu, he also claimed that it was a “clear case of political revenge”. The YSRCP government was unable to digest the reception that Mr. Naidu and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh were getting from the public during their campaign, he said. This had upset Mr. Jagan and hence the arrest was made to divert attention.

The Telugu Desam Party’s Vizianagaram district president Kimidi Nagarjuna on September 10 alleged that the police department was violating all rules and regulations by preventing Opposition leaders from airing their views and staging protests over the arrest of TDP national president and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Mr. Nagarjuna was taken into custody on Sunday morning when he was about to participate in the hunger strike, deploring the arrest of Mr. Naidu.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra who fought N. Chandrababu Naidu’s case in the ACB Court in Vijayawada on September 9, 2023.

Photo credit: G.N. Rao

Consecutively for the second day on Sunday, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders failed to meet Andhra Pradesh Governor S. Abdul Nazeer.

The appointment was given to the TDP delegation at 9.45 a.m., but was cancelled by the Governor’s office yet again. The leaders have planned to submit a representation over the developments in the State.

“We were prepared to meet the Governor, as the appointment was fixed at 9.45 a.m. However at around 9.30 p.m., we were informed that the appointment with Mr. Syed Abdul Nazeer was cancelled. We were asked to come at the same time tomorrow [Monday],” TDP State president K. Atchannaidu told the media in Vizag on Sunday.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national spokesperson Prem Kumar Jain on Sunday said that the arrest of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu shows the “mentality” of Jagan Mohan Reddy government and also an indication that the YSRCP is going to be ousted from the power in the next elections.

Talking to ANI, Jain said that the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRPC), which itself is accused of ‘looting’ Rs 44000 crore, is alleging Chandrababu of corruption, who was not even served with an arrest warrant in the 45 years of his political career.

“The way Chandrababu was arrested amid tight security forces, is a defeat of YSR Jagan Mohan Reddy and the way protests were held across the state against his arrest, shows how popular Chandrababu is. There was not a single accusation in his 45 years of political career nor he was served with an arrest warrant. Arresting him without providing proper information shows the mentality of the YSRCP government. YSRCP itself is accused of looting Rs 44000 cr. The government of sand mafia and land mafia is now accusing Chandrababu,” Jain told ANI.

ANI

The police arrested TDP activists in Vijayawada on Sunday.

Andhra Pradesh Governor S. Abdul Nazeer has again postponed the meeting with the TDP leaders on Sunday.

The TDP leaders were supposed to the meet the Governor on Sunday morning at 9.45 a.m., after the Saturday’s scheduled meeting at 7.15 was cancelled. He will now meet them on Monday at 9.45 a.m.. The Governor is currently camping at Visakhapatnam.

The Crime Investigation Department which arrested TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu in the skill development corporation scam case has said the former Chief Minister was non-cooperative during questioning and replied vaguely saying he did not remember certain issues.

Mr. Naidu was produced in an Anti-Corruption Bureau court in Vijayawada on Sunday morning amid tight security, a day after being arrested in a case of alleged corruption. Read more here.

Minister for Industries and IT Gudivada Amarnath on Friday wondered what could be the reason behind TDP national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s silence on the reports, which appeared in an English newspaper, accusing him of indulging in financial crimes during his tenure as the Chief Minister.

Addressing a media conference here, Mr. Amarnath asked whether TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh, who had threatened to file defamation case against the YSRCP leaders, saying that they had insulted his mother, though they had done nothing of that sort, have the guts to sue the newspaper for writing against his father. Read more here.

Photo credits: K.V.S Giri and G.N. Rao

Justice Hima Bindu has begun hearing the arguments by legal counsels from Government and the ones representing TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday morning at the ACB Court in Vijayawada.

The sudden arrest of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president and former Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu from his camping site at Nandyal, by officials of the Andhra Pradesh CID, appears to have set the stage for a showdown between the TDP and ruling party YSR Congress Party, for the General and Assembly elections in 2024.

While some political pundits term it as a knee-jerk reaction from the ruling party, others say that it was a planned strategy of the YSRCP and Mr. Naidu has seen it coming his way. Read more here.

With the police arresting former TDP Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition, N. Chandrababu Naidu, high alert was sounded in the State on Saturday, September 9, 2023.

Police forces have been mobilised at all the bus and railway stations and at the houses of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders.

The Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) suspended services across the State. Additional forces were deployed at all the public places as a precautionary measure. Read more here.

Police reportedly took Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan and party PAC Chairman Nadendla Manohar into preventive custody on Saturday night when they staged a protest by lying on the National Highway (NH) on the Andhra Pradesh-Telangana border.

When the police denied permission to him to enter the Andhra Pradesh, the JSP president staged a protest around midnight on Saturday on the State borders, near Jaggaiahpeta. Read more here.