The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (AP-CID), during the hearing of the Amaravati land scam case on August 2 (Wednesday), handed over the statements given by the individuals whose assigned lands in Amaravati were allegedly purchased through fraudulent means during the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) regime in violation of the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) to Justice V.R.K. Krupa Sagar of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in a sealed cover.
TDP national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and former Minister for Municipal Administration P. Narayana are the main accused in the case that involved the acquisition of lands whose current value is estimated to be roughly ₹600 crore. These lands are said to cost barely ₹20 crore at the time of their purchase more than six years ago.
The counsel for the CID also submitted a record of the telephonic conversations which Mr. Narayana had with his family members in connection with the land purchase in a pen drive. He told the court that the impugned G.O.Ms.No.41 was issued without the Cabinet nod in order to give sanctity to the transactions in which lands were purchased by the benamis of Mr. Naidu and Mr. Narayana from persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) at low prices.
The advocate for CID further said Mr. Narayana went ahead with the purchase of assigned lands in spite of a caution by the then Guntur district Collector Kantilal Dande about the legal consequences of taking over the assigned lands. Mr. Naidu and Mr. Narayana will have arguments made on their behalf on August 3.
The CID had booked a case against Mr. Naidu, the former minister and some others for purportedly taking the lands through deceit from the SCs on the basis of a complaint lodged by Mangalagiri MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy (YSR Congress Party) with regard to the violation of A.P. Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977, the AP-CRDA Act and the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) rules.
The High Court had earlier imposed a stay on the CID investigation but the Supreme Court set aside the order, paving the way for the CID to continue its probe.
