Arrested in alleged corruption case, former Andhra CM Naidu produced in court

Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu was produced in an Anti-Corruption Bureau court here on Sunday morning amid tight security, a day after being arrested in a case of alleged corruption.

The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister is being represented by Supreme Court lawyer Siddarth Luthra and a team of advocates.

Several TDP senior leaders and the party cadre gathered at the court complex.

At 3:40 am, he was taken to Government General Hospital in Vijayawada for medical tests following a 10-hour-long interrogation at the CID's Special Investigation Team (SIT) office at Kunchanapalli here.

Following the tests, which lasted for about 50 minutes, Naidu was taken back to the SIT office even though it was expected that he would be directly taken to a local court.

The TDP chief's son Nara Lokesh, wife Nara Bhuvaneswari and others were waiting at the ACB Court, TDP spokesperson Pattabhi Ram Kommareddy told PTI.

"We thought that he would be taken to the court. But they brought him back to the SIT office. Lokesh and Bhuvaneswari were waiting at the Court but all of a sudden the convoy turned towards the SIT office," Kommareddy said.

Wondering whether Naidu would be produced in the court before 24 hours of arrest, he said they were surprised and confused.

Naidu was arrested in connection with the alleged Skill Development Corporation scam after a pre-dawn police operation at Gnanapuram in Nandyala on Saturday. He was arrested by the CID around 6 am from a marriage hall outside which his caravan was parked.

It has been alleged that the scam led to a Rs 300-crore loss to the state exchequer. The TDP chief has been named the 'principal conspirator' in the case.

Meanwhile, the TDP gave a call to its supporters to take part in a one-day fast in every Assembly constituency on Sunday to protest against Naidu's arrest.