Telugu Desam Party (TDP) spokesperson Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy has called on the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Andhra Pradesh to name former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as the prime accused in the allegedly fraudulent transfer of Kakinada Sea Port and SEZ shares. The TDP leader also called for his arrest and interrogation by the CID.
Earlier this week, on December 2, Hyderabad-based businessman Karnati Venkateswara Rao (KV Rao), a shareholder in both Kakinada Seaports Limited and Kakinada SEZ, filed a complaint with the CID alleging that Jagan’s associates forced him to forego his shares at severely undervalued prices, under threats of arrest and extortion.
Although KV Rao said in his complaint that the accused persons had acted at the behest of then CM Jagan, the YSR Congress Party chief has not been named as an accused. The FIR names Y Vikranth Reddy, son of YSRCP leader and Jagan’s uncle YV Subba Reddy; Jagan’s close aide and Rajya Sabha MP V Vijayasai Reddy; his son-in-law’s brother and an accused in the Delhi liquor scam Sarath Chandra Reddy; Sarath Chandra’s family-run firm Aurobindo Realty and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd; and the accounting firm PKF Sridhar & Santhanam LLP, which was hired by the state government to conduct audits of KV Rao’s businesses.
“It’s not Vikranth Reddy who should be the main accused but Jagan. He is the one who orchestrated the whole deal from his Tadepalli residence. The CID must arrest and interrogate him to uncover the truth,” Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy said.
KV Rao has alleged that based on fabricated audit reports, Vikranth threatened him that the state government would demand Rs 1000 crore from Kakinada Seaports, as unpaid revenue share of the government. Fearing arrest, KV Rao said he was forced to transfer 41.12% of the Kakinada Seaports shares for Rs 494 crore, and 48.74% of shares in Kakinada SEZ for Rs 12 crore, to Aurobindo. He claimed that their actual value was at least Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 400 crore, respectively.
KV Rao alleged that Vikranth admitted to acquiring the shares on behalf of Jagan. He said that Vikranth and Sarath Chandra took him to a meeting with Jagan at his house in Vijayawada. “When I tried to protest, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy didn't allow me to say anything, except asking me to follow what was said by Mr Vikranth Reddy. Thus it is clear that all this is done at the instance of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy,” KV Rao said in his complaint.
Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy alleged that the atmosphere created by Jagan and his associates like Vikranth, and the fact that they would go after any successful business ventures in a similar manner, is what deterred investors from coming to Andhra Pradesh.