TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu.
Credit: PTI File Photo
A team of Andhra Pradesh Police CID officials has concluded its two-day interrogation of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu in the Skill Development Corporation scam case on Sunday at Rajamahendravaram Central Prison.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau Court had on Friday granted the CID two days' custody of the 73-year-old TDP chief for interrogation in the case.
In compliance with the court’s orders, Naidu’s questioning by CID officials was allowed from 9:30 AM to 5 PM on both days (September 23 and 24) with regular five-minute breaks given to him to consult his lawyer.
Coastal Andhra Range DIG of prisons M R Ravi Kiran told PTI that Naidu was handed back to the jail authorities by CID officials after completing their interrogation.
Further, he said the former chief minister was also produced before the court virtually through the ‘Blue Jeans’ app at 5 pm as mandated by the Vijayawada ACB Court.
‘Blue Jeans' is an app using which prisoners are produced before courts online, said Kiran.
The two-day police custody and two-day extension of judicial remand granted by the court expired on Sunday. However, Naidu will continue to remain in jail for now.
The court allowed three deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) from the Economic Offences Wing of the CID, accompanied by six more junior police officers, one professional videographer and two official mediators to participate in the interrogation.
The court had also permitted the assistance of a team of lawyers for Naidu during the interrogation at reasonable intervals of five minutes after every one hour of questioning.
It allowed the questioning of Naidu on the premises of the jail itself, considering the paucity of time, as well as the health and age of the former chief minister, helping him avoid the nearly 200 km-long journey from Rajamahendravaram central prison to the CID office in Mangalagiri.
Naidu was arrested on September 9, for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation, which resulted in a purported loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer. PTI STH ANE