HYDERABAD: Ahead of the much anticipated arrest of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested prohibition and excise minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana in connection with the alleged illegal assets’ case of the Kadapa MP.He was held for his alleged role with regard to the allotment of 13,000 acres in Guntur and Prakasam districts for Vanpic during his stint as investment, ports and infrastructure minister in the late YSR’s Cabinet. He was produced before the Special CBI Court and remanded in judicial custody till June 7. However, after the CBI filed a petition seeking his custody, the court granted five-day custody and Venkata Ramana was driven to Dilkusha guest house.This is the first time in the history of Andhra Pradesh that a serving minister was arrested for corruption. He is the fourth person to be arrested in the Jagan assets case. The CBI filed a memo in the court to the effect that Venkata Ramana was now an accused in the case. The CBI is understood to have found strong evidence against Venkata Ramana in the discrepancies in Vanpic concession agreement. He is alleged to have approved the note files in favour of Vanpic, in clear violation of rules.His arrest came after the statements given by industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad and IRAS officer KV Brahmananda Reddy, both of whom were arrested by the CBI a few days ago. Brahmananda Reddy had earlier worked as special secretary for investment, ports and infrastructure. In fact, during his eight-hour intense grilling on Wednesday, the investigators confronted Venkata Ramana in the presence of Prasad and Brahmananda Reddy. On Thursday morning, he was summoned again to Dilkusha guest house and arrested subsequently.CBI sources said Prasad invested about Rs 800 crore in companies belonging to Jagan Mohan Reddy in return for the 13,000 acres allotted to Vanpic. Earlier too, Mopidevi had been called for questioning by the CBI and all the while he maintained that the agency sought some clarifications and he told them whatever he knew.On Wednesday, among various questions posed to Venkata Ramana by the CBI, one pertained to the splitting of the industrial corridor and Vodarevu and Nizampatnam ports, and changing the corridor status as ‘’Built, Operate and Own’’ basis as against ‘’Built, Operate, Own and Transfer.’’ Soon after his arrest, Mopidevi was taken to the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) for a check-up. He is likely to be produced before the Special CBI Court on Friday morning.Though Mopidevi was not named as an accused in the FIR, he was arrested following the statements made by Prasad and Brahamananda Reddy after which the CBI gathered enough evidence to nail down the minister. Soon after his arrest, his followers damaged four APSRTC buses in his constituency Repalle in Guntur district leading to mild tension.The minister was arrested under sections 120-B read with 420, 409, 420 and 477-A and 13 (2) read with 13 (1) (c) and (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. That Mopidevi was going to face arrest was clear on Wednesday evening when he met chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy after being interrogated by the CBI.
Comments
0 comment