Chandrababu Naidu arrest September 9 updates | Arrested TDP chief shifted to SIT office after medical tests

After more than 23 hours of arrest, Mr Naidu was brought to the ACB court in Vijayawada on Sunday morning

Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who was arrested in a corruption case, was shifted to the SIT office after being taken to a hospital in Vijayawada for medical tests following a 10-hour-long interrogation, a police official said.

The former chief minister was arrested in connection with the alleged Skill Development Corporation scam after a pre-dawn police operation at Gnanapuram in Nandyala on Saturday. He was arrested by the CID around 6 am from a marriage hall outside which his caravan was parked.

Former CM N. Chandrababu Naidu’s medical tests are completed. He’s being shifted to the SIT office after almost 22 hours.

Officials of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) shifted former Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu to Government General Hospital (GGH) for medical examinations, around 3.40 a.m. on Sunday.

After questioning for about 10 hours, the CID sleuths shifted Mr. Naidu from the SIT office to GGH amidst tight security.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) activists raised slogans against the government and tried to obstruct the convoy. Police deployed heavy forces at the GGH. Police Commissioner, Kanthi Rana Tata, DCP Ajita Vajendla and other officers supervised the security at the hospital.

A team of doctors conducted medical tests to Mr. Naidu. Police also made heavy bandobust at the ACB Special Court.

As police stopped Pawan Kalyan’s convoy, the leader started walking to Mangalagiri. However, he was again asked to stop walking.

The JSP President lies down on the road as he was stopped from proceeding to Mangalagiri.

Pawan Kalyan, President of Janasena party, BJP’s local ally, termed Mr. Naidu’s arrest as ‘political vendetta.’ “The state government is resorting to the midnight-arrests without any proof. We have seen how this government behaved with Jana Sena Party in Visakhapatnam in October last year. Janasena condemns the arrest of Chandrababu Naidu,” he said in a video message.

Jana Sena, an opposition party in the southern state and BJP’s local ally alleged that the state police have written a letter to the Gannavaram Airport director to deny permission to a special flight arranged for their party president Pawan Kalyan to Vijayawada from Hyderabad.

Mr. Kalyan arrived by road. His vehicle was stopped by the police at Jaggaiahpet in NTR district from proceeding to his party office at Mangalagiri in Guntur district.

Jana Sena Party cadres surround Pawan Kalyan’s vehicle when the police stopped him.

The Telugu Desam Party has decided to observe a mass hunger strike across Andhra Pradesh on Sunday in protest against the arrest.

Andhra Pradesh TDP president K. Atchannaidu, in a statement on Saturday, requested the party cadres to participate in large numbers in all assembly constituency headquarters. - PTI

Senior counsel Posani Venkateswarlu, advocate M. Lakshminarayana and advocate Javvaji Sarath Chandra are part of the legal team.

To further bolster Mr. Naidu’s defence in the court, TDP has flown in Supreme Court lawyer Siddarth Luthra, a party source confirmed.

The appointment sought by the TDP leaders with the Governor of Andhra Pradesh Abdul Nazeer who is at present in Viskhapatnam to attend the Andhra University convocation at 7.15 p.m. on Saturday was cancelled.

The TDP leaders who were detained by the police post the arrest of TDP national President N. Chandrababu Naidu were not released by the police till late in the evening and hence the appointment was cancelled. They sought a fresh appointment at 9.45 a.m. on Sunday.

Palnadu district TDP president and former MLA G.V. Anjaneyulu filed a house motion petition in the High Court for declaring the arrests, detentions and house-arrests of the leaders of TDP, Janasena, CPM etc. that took place after the midnight of September 9 as illegal, arbitrary and violative of Articles 19 & 21 of the Constitution of India and against the guidelines of Supreme Court and Sections.41 & 50 of the Cr.P.C.

Chandrababu Naidu requested the CID to allow him to avail the assistance of senior advocates Dammalapati Srinivas (former Advocate General of AP) and Posani Venkateswarlu and advocates M. Lakshminarayana and J. Sarath Chandra in the court matters pertaining to his alleged involvement in the skill development scam.

TDP to launch Statewide protest on Sunday against the ‘illegal’ arrest of Chandbabu Naidu.

Chandrababu Naidu’s wife Bhuvaneswari and son and former minister Lokesh reach the CID office to meet him. They are made to wait while the CID carried out the formalities before producing the former CM in a court at Vijayawada.

A team of TDP leaders, headed by Andhra Pradesh TDP President Kinjarapu Atchannaidu, is scheduled to meet the governor S. Abdul Nazeer at 7.15 p.m. today.

The TDP leaders are meeting the governor to explain about the recent developments in Andhra Pradesh, where TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu was arrested by police at midnight.

However, the police are preventing the TDP leaders from going to the governor.

Police resorted to lathicharge and took into custody hundreds of activists of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) as they staged protests and tried to block the police convoy carrying the party’s national president N. Chandrababu Naidu from Nandyal to Vijayawada, through Prakasam district, on Saturday.

The TDP activists attempted to stop the vehicle carrying the former Chief Minister at several places on the Kurnool highway, as the convoy entered Giddalur, even as the police made elaborate security arrangements to ensure its safe passage.

“There was no major law and order problem anywhere in the district. The situation is well under control with the beefing up of security,” Prakasam Superintendent of Police Malika Garg told The Hindu. Stray incidents occurred en route, including at Chimakurthy town and the police resorted to lathicharge to keep at bay the surging crowds, she said.

A senior TDP leader sought the intervention of President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the ‘illegal’ arrest of N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Srikakulam Member of Parliament Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu termed the arrest of Mr. Naidu as ‘illegal’ and ‘undemocratic.’ In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the MP said, “Naidu, the former CM of AP, having a clean and unblemished political career spanning over 45 years…was illegally arrested…in an undemocratic manner.” He addressed a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, urging her to take prompt action.

Mr. Kinjarapu also shot off a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah highlighting the timing of the former CM’s arrest. He noted that it raises suspicion and concerns over the legality and fairness of the process. - PTI

Police convoy transporting Mr. Naidu is expected to reach SIT office shortly. He is expected to be questioned on the skill development case.

Nara Bhuvaneswari had darshan at Kanakadurga temple and prayed for the protection of her husband N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Tension mounted as TDP cadre and supporters of the party staged a protest and stopped the convoy of the party president N. Chandrababu Naidu on the National Highway in Chilakaluripet in Palnadu district on September 9, while the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (APCID) officials were shifting him to Vijayawada from Nandyal via Ongole-Chilakaluripet-Guntur, after arresting him in the early morning.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Manoj Jha slammed the Jagan Mohan Reddy Government in Andhra Pradesh over the arrest of TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and said it is a new trend in Indian politics to go to extremes against one’s political opponents.

“A new trend has started in this country where you go to extremes because you have political differences. Chandrababu Naidu is not only a former chief minister but has played a key role in the formation of modern Andhra Pradesh,” Mr. Jha told PTI.

“Jagan has learnt this from [Narendra] Modi ji and Amit Shah ji. Such actions don’t have a long shelf life,” he added.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu is paying for his sins said Civil Supplies Minister Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao.

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Three TDP activists suffered injuries when they tried to burn Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s effigy, protesting the arrest of former Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Policemen who tried to stop the party activists had a narrow escape.

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The multi-crore skill development centres probe, which led to the arrest of TDP chief and former Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu was haunting the leader for two years, after his party lost power in 2019 Assembly polls.

The case involved alleged misappropriation of funds while setting up a centre of excellence and five technical skill development centres between 2015 and 2019 during Mr. Naidu’s tenure as Chief Minister.

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Even if you have over 40 years of experience as politician and being a CM for over a period of 15 years, punishment is inevitable, as per the law, when you commit a crime, IT Minister Gudivada Amarnath responded over the arrest of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president, N. Chandrababu Naidu. He said that political experience does not matter when a leader is involved in a scam misusing crores of public funds.

Tension gripped different parts of south coastal Andhra Pradesh in the wake of the arrest of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at Nandyal on Saturday.

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Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan has said that former CM N. Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest was an act of political vengeance.

He strongly condemned the arrest and took strong objection to detention of TDP leaders and activists whose right it was to protest against the shabby treatment being meted to Mr. Naidu.

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Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) wrote letters to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister (HM) Amit Shah on Saturday requesting them to take prompt action with regard to the arrest of TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu to ensure that justice prevails.

He stated that Mr. Naidu’s arrest was a matter of great concern as it was illegal and the circumstances under which the former CM was detained, have raised serious doubts not only on its legality but also the fairness of the process.

TDP chief N. Chadrababu Naidu was arrested in connection with an alleged ₹550 crore fraud case involving siphoning off funds from Skill Development Corporation, Andhra Pradesh CID Chief N. Sanjay said.

“The principal conspirator behind the entire scheme and who orchestrated the transfer of the public funds from government to private entities via shell companies has taken place with the act of leadership of Shri Nara Chandrababu Naidu,” he said.

He possesses the exclusive knowledge of transactions leading to the issuing of government orders and MoUs from time to time which makes him the central figure of the investigation, he added.

PTI

Investigation implicates Chandrababu Naidu and TDP as beneficiaries of misappropriation of funds, Andhra Pradesh CID chief said at a press conference in Vijayawada.

PTI

Tight security has been arranged at the YSRC and Telugu Desam party (TDP) State offices and other parties and government offices, located in Guntur and NTR districts, to prevent any untoward incidents, after the arrest of former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Police closed the service road leading to AP Police Headquarters and the TDP office, at Mangalagiri. Vehicle checking was being done on all the roads leading to Vijayawada and Guntur.

The Andhra Pradesh Special Police (APSP) Battalions, Armed Reserve (AR), OCTOPUS, law and order and other police forces were pressed into service. Rope parties were arranged along the National Highway, as the police were shifting Mr. Naidu, to Vijayawada through the highway.

The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has stoutly denied that Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu was arrested out of political vendetta. The party also refuted Mr. Naidu’s remarks that there was no mention of his name in the FIR nor notices were served on him. The YSRCP also saw no reason to train its guns against Mr. Naidu or the TDP, a spent force, what it called.

The AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) which suspended bus operations in the early hours of August 9 in the wake of tension that gripped parts of the State after the arrest of the TDP national president and Leader of the Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu, restored all bus operations by 10 a.m.

“We stopped operating buses at the advice of the police department which feared possible damage to them. Till 8 a.m., we operated only around 25% of the fleet of our buses but restored the operations fully by 10 a.m.,” said the Corporation’s Executive Director (Operations) A. Koteswara Rao.

Tension prevailed across Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district since the early hours of September 9 after TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh called off his Yuva Galam Padayatra and launched a protest against police for preventing him from leaving Konaseema to see his father, N. Chandrababu Naidu, former Chief Minister and TDP national president.

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After former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was arrested in an alleged Skill Development scam case, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) spokesperson Kommareddy Pattabhiram accused the ruling Jagan Mohan Reddy Government of trying to brand Mr. Naidu as a “corrupt politician” through the recent development.

Further, coming down heavily on Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) chief and CM of the State, Kommareddy Pattabhiram called Jagan Mohan Reddy the most “corrupt politician” in the entire country.

“For the past two years, the skill development case drama has been going on and just before the elections, they have carried out this arrest just to brand Chandrababu Naidu as some kind of a corrupt politician...People know that it is Jagan Mohan Reddy who is the most corrupt politician in the entire country...” he said while speaking to ANI.

He further alleged that the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Investigation Department (CID) started the process of arresting Chandrababu Naidu “illegally”.

Hindupur MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who spent 16 months in jail, appears to be bent on sending Mr. Naidu to prison for at least 16 minutes as part of his vengeful politics.

In a press release, Mr. Balakrishna insisted that Mr. Naidu’s arrest was illegal and questioned how could the police detain him without a prima facie evidence.

“Mr. Naidu has nothing to do with the skill development scam. It is a false propaganda unleashed by the ruling party,” Mr. Balakrishna said, adding that the TDP would fight a battle in courts against the injustice.

TDP national president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said in a message on ‘X’ that he had been selflessly serving the people for the last 45 years.

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All the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders were either house arrested or shifted to police station, following arrest of former Chief Minister & TDP National President, N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Former Education Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao was also arrested by a team of police, at his residence in the early morning and shifted to Disha Police Station at Yendada.

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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.

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