Hyderabad: CBI on Thursday carried out searches at
various premises of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and state Home
Secretary B P Acharya at five cities with regards to two
different cases registered by the agency.
CBI spokesperson in Delhi said the cases have been
registered against Reddy for allegedly amassing wealth
disproportionate to his known sources of income and against
officials of Andhra Pradesh State Government and Emaar-MGF on
charges of criminal conspiracy for promotion of villas and
apartments at a prime location here.
In the case against Reddy, CBI carried out searches in
Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai, the
spokesperson said.
Separate teams were formed to conduct the searches after
the central agency yesterday approached the CBI Special Court
to seek search warrants for over 90 locations owned by as many
as 32 corporates and some individuals who have invested in the
firms owned by Jagan.
Acting on the separate petitions filed by Textile
Minister P Shankar Rao and TDP leader Yerran Naidu, the Andhra
Pradesh High Court had recently ordered CBI to probe the
alleged illegal assets that the Kadapa MP had amassed during
his father`s regime as Chief Minister.
The agency in a separate case searched the premises of
Principal Secretary (Home) Acharya and builder Emaar-MGF
in Hyderabad and Delhi.
The case relates to alleged criminal conspiracy between
state government official and Dubai-based Emmar group for
diluting state government`s Andhra Pradesh Industrial
Corporation`s stake in a posh township developed through a
joint venture, the agency spokesperson said.
Reacting to the development, Executive President
Emmar-MGF Sanjiv Saddy said, "As a corporate policy, the group
always cooperates with the investigating agency and adheres by
the law. We are providing all the documents sought by the CBI
officials and cooperating with them."
The Andhra Pradesh High Court had on August 10 ordered a
CBI inquiry into the land allotments made to Emaar by the then
Rajasekhara Reddy Government and dilution of the stake of
Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC)
in the joint venture with Emaar for the development of a
township in the city.
Meanwhile, Sobha Nagi Reddy, a Praja Rajyam MLA and
supporter of Jagan, told reporters that the searches being
conducted by CBI were part of a "conspiracy" against the rebel
Congress leader.
"People are observing this. This is a conspiracy
against the family of late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. Congress
will have to pay heavy price for this," the MLA said.
CBI, which constituted 15 teams for the operation,
searched some of the offices of the firms owned by Jagan,
besides his residence and that of his relatives in posh
Banjara and Jubilee Hills area here.
Searches were on at the residences of Vijay Sai Reddy,
who is vice-president of Jagati Publications (which publishes
Sakshi Telugu newspaper and also Sakshi TV), owned by Jagan,
and his sister Sharmila?s residence at Sagar Society here.
The CBI teams also conducted searches at the
residences and office premises of individual investors
including Nimmagadda Prasad of Matrix Labs and Lagadapati
Sridhar who runs Jubilee Media here. Sridhar is youngest
brother of Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal.
(Reopens Del 52)
Among the firms where CBI conducted searches include R
R Global, Sandur Power, Jagati Publications, Carmel Asia
Holdings and Bharati Cement.
CBI Joint Director V V Lakshmi Narayana, who is heading
investigations, said they would brief the media on the
developments after completion of the searches.
A senior CBi officer said, "Searches were conducted at
the residence of Acharya and we have collected some
documents".
When contacted, Acharya refused to talk saying "I am
busy". Acharya was the then managing director of Andhra
Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC).
The controversy centres around dilution of APIIC`s
equity from 49 per cent as agreed in the original memorandum
of understanding (MoU) to 26 per cent and also Emaar roping in
its group company Emaar-MGF Land Limited as a co-developer for
the township component of the 258-acre integrated township
project at Gachchibowli here.
PTI
