Hyderabad: After freezing 11 bank accounts of three companies owned by Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy, CBI on Thursday told a court it had initiated the process for searching more accounts of these firms to get them deactivated.
"We will not stop here...We are searching for other accounts maintained by Jagati Publications and other companies and also get them frozen," CBI Deputy Legal Advisor Balla Ravindranath told the Special CBI court.
He was making submissions in support of freezing the accounts of Jagan`s companies, including two media entities, as part of the central agency`s probe into disproportionate assets case filed against the YSR Congress President.
Countering the defence argument that CBI`s action was aimed at muzzling the voice of print and electronic media and causing political advantage to Jagan`s rivals, Ravindranath said it was only to safeguard the interests of the state that applications to freeze the accounts were filed.
"We are handling the case on behalf of the state and are not influenced by any party. They have other sources to maintain these companies", he said.
CBI had May 8 sent notices to different banks to freeze all operations of the accounts of Indira Television Ltd, which runs Telugu news channel Sakshi TV, Jagati Publications Ltd, publisher of `Sakshi` Telugu newspaper and Janani Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.
These accounts had balance of around Rs 11 crore besides fixed deposits of Rs 103 crore.
CBI, which has so far filed three chargesheets against Jagan and others in the case, also told the court that it had so far established that a total sum of Rs 74 crore was pumped into Jagati as part of investments running into several crores from some firms into Jagan`s businesses.
The investments in Jagan`s companies were part of quid pro quo when his father (late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy) was Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, it alleged.
PTI
