Zeenews Bureau
Hyderabad: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested Kadapa MP and YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy in alleged disproportionate assets case registered against him.
The CBI made the arrest after questioning the Kadapa MP for three consecutive days. The arrest of 39-year-old Jagan came just ahead of by-polls to 18 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh.
CBI officials said Jagan was arrested for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Some routing of funds have been detected from tax havens like Mauritius and Isle of Mann, indicating that there were quid pro quo investments in his Sakshi television and Jagriti publications by some companies which were given land in the much sought after Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Park, they said.
Soon after his arrest, Jagan urged partymen to remain calm.
"I will fight this battle legally in the courts. I am confident of a positive outcome," he said.
The YSR Congress Party chief said he won’t bow down to the "political games” being played by Congress and TDP.
Earlier in the day, the beleaguered Kadapa MP had alleged that he was being targeted by the ruling Congress in collusion with the CBI and TDP.
“I am being targeted by the ruling Congress, which has colluded with other political parties and the CBI to implicate me in false cases,” he had said.
Reacting to Jagan’s arrest YSR Congress spokesperson Ambati Rambabu said his mother Vijeyama will lead the YSR Congress in Jagan’s absence.
Jagan's arrest has evoked strong reaction from BJP, which accused the UPA of using CBI "selectively".
Coming in support of the embattled YSR Congress chief, BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, "Here is the Union Government using CBI to selectively choose individuals who are opposing Congress and I think it is a large ploy by Congress to settle scores with those who oppose them."
Congress, however, has reacted cautiously saying the party doesn’t comment on matters under investigation.
In order to prevent any untoward incident, Hyderabad police have already clamped Section 144 of CrPC in the city, besides heavy deployment of AP Special Police and RAF personnel on Raj Bhavan road.
The CBI maintains that Jagan "influenced" his father and late Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy into doling out favours to select investors as a quid pro quo for investing into his businesses.
The CBI, which has so far filed three charge sheets in the case, charged Jagan and his father of hatching a conspiracy to defraud the government.
First Published: Sunday, May 27, 2012, 19:40