AP Skill Development Corporation scam: CID interrogates Chandrababu Naidu in prison

Rajamahendravaram (AP): The first day of questioning of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu by the Andhra Pradesh CID in the case relating to Skill Development Corporation scam concluded here on Saturday.

According to M R Ravi Kiran, DIG (Prisons), the first day of interrogation of Naidu was over. However, Naidu was not virtually produced before the Court by CID officials today, he said adding that he could be produced after the completion of inquiry on Sunday through online mode. The DIG noted that Naidu was allowed to take breaks during the interrogation and access one lawyer as directed by the special Anti-Corruption Bureau court. The Court had on Friday granted the CID two days' custody of 73-year old TDP chief for further interrogation in the case.

The CID will be allowed to quiz Naidu from 9.30 am to 5 pm on both days (September 23 and 24). The court allowed three deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) from the Economic Offences Wing of the CID, accompanied by six more junior police officers, one professional videographer and two official mediators to take part in the interrogation. It has directed the CID to permit Naidu's counsel to be present within a visible distance during his custody without interference. The CID was allowed to question the former CM in the jail premises itself considering the paucity of time, health and age of the former chief minister, helping him avoid the nearly 200 km-long journey from Rajamahendravaram central prison to the CID office in Mangalagiri. In a related development, Naidu today moved the Supreme Court challenging the Andhra Pradesh High Court order dismissing his petition for quashing the FIR against him in connection with an alleged scam.

The high court had rejected his plea on Friday. Naidu was arrested on September 9, for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation, leading to a purported loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer