Several voices rise in support of TDP chief, protest against his arrest in alleged multi-crore corruption case

Amaravati: In the wake of TDP chief and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's arrest in an alleged multi-crore corruption case, several voices, including some from abroad extended support to him, calling his arrest illegal. Global technology company Zoho's chief executive Sridhar Vembu on Sunday expressed shock over Naidu's arrest.

"I was shocked to read that Chandrababu Naidu-ji was arrested yesterday. I know him and he worked so hard to bring so many companies, including Zoho, to Andhra Pradesh. I hope justice prevails," said Vembu in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Meanwhile, TDP supporters, who came out to observe a one-day fast protesting Naidu's arrest were thwarted by police in Kanigiri in Prakasam district today, a party official said. Similar protests were thwarted by police at Srikalahasti in Tirupati district and Kovvuru in East Godavari district, he added.

Earlier, the Telugu Desam Party shared few videos of its overseas supporters protesting the arrest at Mahatma Gandhi statue in front of the British Parliament in London. Currently, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is on a 10-day personal visit in London and is expected to return to the state on Monday. Meanwhile, senior YSRCP leader and Rajya Sabha member V Vijayasai Reddy questioned as to why Naidu should not be arrested for his role in several alleged scams.

He alleged that the TDP chief was responsible for a list of irregularities which include AP-CRDA scam, AP-FibreNet scam, AP Skill Development scam, Amaravati land scam, ESI medical purchases scam, cash for votes scam in 2016, call money scam and others. The Crime Investigation Department which arrested Naidu for his alleged role in a multi-core Skill Development Corporation scam produced him in an Anti-Corruption Bureau court in Vijayawada on Sunday amid tight security. Following nearly seven hours of arguments in the court between a team of Naidu's lawyers led by Supreme Court advocate Siddarth Luthra and CID lawyers, the judgement is awaited.

Naidu was arrested in a pre-dawn operation on Saturday at Nandyala, which involved officers knocking on the door of the caravan in which he was sleeping. The former CM was arrested by the CID around 6 am on Saturday from a marriage hall (outside which his caravan was parked) at Gnanapuram in Nandyala