Vijayawada ACB Court on Thursday, October 19 extended judicial custody of former chief minister and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu till November 1 in alleged Skill Development Corporation scam.
With Naidu's custody coming to an end, he was produced before the judge virtually from Rajahmundry Central Jail, where is lodged. The judge extended the custody by two weeks.
Naidu submitted to the judge that he has apprehensions about his security in jail. The judge asked him to give the same in writing and directed the jail authorities to forward the letter to the court. Naidu also conveyed his health problems to the judge. The court enquired from the prison officials about Naidu's health condition and the steps being taken for his treatment and directed the jail authorities to submit his medical report.
The CID had arrested Naidu on September 9 in the alleged scam which took place when he was the chief minister. The next day Vijayawada ACB Court sent him to judicial custody till September 22. He was subsequently shifted to Rajahmundry Central Jail.
The court later extended Naidu’s judicial custody till September 24. The same day the court sent him to two-day custody of CID. Since then his judicial remand was extended twice.
The case relates to the establishment of clusters of Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a total estimated project value of Rs 3300 crore when Naidu was the chief minister.
The CID claimed that the alleged fraud has caused a huge loss of Rs 371 crore to the state government. The agency claimed that an advance of Rs 371 crores, representing the entire 10 per cent commitment by the government for the project, was released before any expenditure by the private entities.
According to the CID, most of the money released by the government as advance was diverted to shell companies through fake invoices, with no actual delivery or sale of the items mentioned in the invoices, CID officials said.
The CID mentioned in its remand report that the total amount spent by private entities on six skill development clusters is sourced exclusively from funds advanced by the state government and the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Centre, totalling Rs 371 crore.