New Delhi: YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy will be quizzed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) again on Saturday. On Friday, he was grilled by CBI sleuths for over seven hours in connection with the disproportionate assets case.
Jagan remained unperturbed by the grilling. The CBI is questioning Jagan on the Vadarevu and Nizampatnam Ports and Industrial Corridor (VANPIC) deal in the presence of industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad and senior bureaucrat KV Brahamandna Reddy who are already under arrest.
Prasad is the promoter in the VANPIC deal and allegedly invested Rs 850 crore in the business of Jagan for land allotment made to the VANPIC project by the then YSR regime on quid-pro-quo basis. The CBI had on Thursday arrested Andhra Pradesh Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana in connection with the VANPIC project.
Prohibitory orders have been issued in Hyderabad as police fear that Jagan's supporters could go on the rampage if he is arrested. His anticipatory bail petition was rejected on Thursday by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, hours after the CBI arrested Venkataramana.
Security has been strengthened security in and around the Dilkhusa Guest House where a large number of police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel have been deployed. The Raj Bhavan route, which leads to the guest house was barricaded and a lot of traffic restrictions were imposed there.
The High Court as well as the CBI had turned down his pleas seeking exemption from appearing before the agency till June 15 due to his engagement with the by-polls campaign.
The prohibitory orders under Indian Penal Code Section 144 banning assembly of five or more persons came into force at 6 am on Thursday. Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma said the orders would be in force till May 29, a day after he is scheduled to appear in the CBI court. A large number of police personnel have been deployed all over Hyderabad to prevent any untoward incident.
There will be no permission for meetings, rallies and processions during the period. Police have launched checking of vehicles and frisking of people, especially at the entry points into the city.
The police commissioner said they had reliable information that "in view of forthcoming by-elections certain political parties are likely to organise large number of supporters in Hyderabad city limits, taking advantage of some local events to derive political advantage." In the emotionally charged atmosphere, large-scale mobilisation of people is likely to adversely affect maintenance of law and order, the police chief said.
Jagan has alleged that the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party along with the CBI are conspiring to arrest him and then create a law and order problem to postpone the June 12 by-elections to one Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly constituencies. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jagan alleged that a conspiracy had been conceived to trigger riots after his arrest and put the blame on him.
With additional information from PTI
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