Vijayawada: The ACB court has granted the state CID a two-day custody of TD president Nara Chandrababu Naidu to facilitate further investigation into the AP skill development scam, which amounts to ₹371 crore.
The court issued this order on Friday, with specific conditions for the inquiry to take place between September 23 and 24. The custody period will run from 9:30 am to 5 pm and will be conducted in the presence of legal advocates at the central prison in Rajahmundry. Naidu is currently serving a 16-day judicial remand there.
The court has also requested details of the CID officials who will be conducting the interrogation of Naidu. It further instructed the CID not to release any pictures or videos of Naidu’s interrogation after the completion of the probe by 5 pm on Sunday. The court added that Naidu should be produced before the court via video conference to determine the next course of action.
Despite the ACB court having concluded its hearings on the CID’s request for Naidu’s custody earlier, it awaited a verdict from the AP High Court regarding Naidu’s plea to quash the FIR filed against him in the skill development scam case. After the High Court’s ruling, the ACB court granted the CID two days’ custody.
As Naidu’s 14-day remand concluded on September 22, the ACB court extended his judicial custody by an additional two days, until September 24. Therefore, the CID has been instructed to virtually present Naidu after 5 pm on September 24, immediately following the completion of their custody-based investigation.
During a video link interaction between Naidu and ACB judge S.V.H. Bindu, Naidu expressed his distress and claimed he was subjected to mental harassment through his detention. He also asserted that he was arrested without prior notice and maintained that the allegations against him in the scam case were unproven.
In response, the judge inquired about Naidu’s conditions in the central prison in Rajahmundry and assured him that she would address any deficiencies. She also informed Naidu that his judicial custody would continue until September 24, at which point the next steps in the legal process would be determined.
