Andhra Pradesh BJP President Kanna Lakshminarayana on Wednesday demanded a CBI probe into the multi-crore AgriGold scam in the state, and accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his son and IT Minister Nara Lokesh of trying to 'loot' the assets of the tainted company.
Claiming that the state government was unwilling to resolve the issue at hand as they wanted to get their hands on some of the properties belonging to AgriGold, Lakshminarayana said that he had also taken up the issue with the central government.
“CM Naidu and Lokesh were directly involved in the scandal as they were not allowing the auction of the properties of the defunct financial services to grab the prime assets,” he was quoted as saying.
Starting October 22, he said that the state unit of the BJP would stage protests and demand justice for the victims of the scam, adding that senior leaders like party general secretary Ram would be present in Vijayawada on the first day of the agitation.
Stating that the state government did not resolve the issue despite repeated orders from the Hyderabad High Court, the state BJP chief also said that he would write to the Centre demanding a CBI enquiry.
The scam
Around 3.2 million people in many states, including Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, were duped by the AgriGold scam, which came to light in 2014.
AgriGold owes Rs 6,380 crore to over 32 lakh depositors in 9 states, with Andhra Pradesh leading the list with 19 lakh depositors.
The company lured several lakh customers on the promise that their investment would come back to them with higher returns. Several 'agents' were also sent out to convince people to invest in the group of companies.
The company allegedly took this money and invested heavily in real estate, before branching out to other areas as well, and finally duping the customers. Over 100 people have committed suicide after the scam came to light.