The Government of Andhra Pradesh has attached the present residential house of former Chief Minister, Leader of Opposition and TDP National President N. Chandrababu Naidu on May 14. The house is located at Karakatta road in Amaravati capital city. The Home Department issued attachment orders through a G.O. Ms. No. 89 on May 12, 2023, based on the investigation report submitted by the AP Crime Investigation Department (CID).
The allegation is, “As a quid-pro-quo, Mr. Lingamaneni Rajashekar provided their House on the banks of River Krishna, at H.No 3-781/1, Karakatta Road, Undavalli Village, Tadepalli Mandal, Guntur District, for the residence of Mr. Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh on a free-of-cost basis, for the favours done by the accused persons at the time of drafting Capital City Master Plan of Amaravati in 2014”.
In the GO, the government explained that “The CID investigated these allegations based on the complaint given by the YSR Congress Party Alla Rama Krishna Reddy, MLA from Mangalagiri Assembly Constituency. The CID registered a case in Cr.No. 16/2022 under sections 120(B), 409, 420, 34, 35, 37, 166, 167 and 217 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and section 13(2), read with section 13(1)(c) and (d) of the Prevention of the Corruption Act 1988.”
The A.P. CID has requested the State government to attach the property under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1944. After informing the Judge of the court concerned, the State government issued orders, attaching the property.
Manipulation of Capital City Planning:
The Government revealed that, “On December 8, 2014 an MOU was executed in violation of the rules, between Infrastructure Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd. (INCAP of A.P) and International Enterprise., Singapore, without the due approval of the Government of India. The accused- the then Chief Minister, Mr. Naidu (A1) and the then Minister for MA&UD Department, Mr. Ponguru Narayana (A2) acted in a premeditated manner to get the work order of preparing the Draft Perspective plan and Master plan of the Capital city awarded to a Singapore based Master Planner on nomination basis, by bypassing the tender norms”.
The State government said, “The Capital City Master Plan was prepared by Singapore based Master Planner under the guidance and as per the directions of Mr. Naidu and Mr. Narayana, for specifically avoiding the acquisition of lands belonging to the companies and family members of Lingamaneni Ramesh, Lingamaneni Rajashekar and Heritage Foods Pvt Ltd. and to give them windfall gains in the form of appreciation of the value of the land. A large Inner Ring Road (IRR) with 75 meters ‘Right of the Way’ was aligned just adjacent to these lands. Many farmers of the adjacent lands suffered loss owing to the notification of their lands under the IRR. They were not given permission for making any layouts or taking up constructions on their lands.”
Lingamaneni - Heritage involvement:
“In 2014, Heritage Foods Pvt Limited procured land just adjacent to the land bank of the Lingamanenis. Mr. Lokesh, who later became an MLC and a Minister in the Government, was a member of the board of M/s Heritage Foods which passed the resolution to purchase the land from the Lingamanenis and others. The names of Lingamaneni Ramesh and Lingamaneni Venkata Surya Rajasekhar were clearly mentioned in the board resolutions of M/s Heritage Foods”, the CID authorities informed.
Manipulation of Inner Ring Road
“Starting from the preparation of the Draft Perspective plan of the Capital City, Mr. Naidu and Mr. Narayana continuously guided the officials on the process of planning. While Mr. Naidu worked to get the alignment of the IRR to suit the interest of the Lingamanenis and the Heritage Foods, Mr. Narayana got the alignment manipulated for the benefit of the campuses of educational institutions being run by Narayana Education Society”, the CID unearthed in its investigation.
The investigation authorities have found that, “After the Draft Perspective Plan was revealed and the alignment of the Inner Ring Road was published, the Lingamanenis were able to sell some part of their landbank to others at a price which was many times higher than the values of the land in 2015.”
As a quid-pro-quo, Mr. Lingamaneni Rajashekar provided their House on the banks of River Krishna, at H.No 3-781/1, Karakatta Road, Undavalli Village, Tadepalli Mandal, Guntur District, for the residence of Mr. Naidu and Mr. Lokesh on a free- of -cost basis. Therefore, the house forms a part of the illegal gratification received by the accused.
