Chandrababu Naidu got apprehended regarding the matter on September 9.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court has approved temporary bail for ex-Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP leader N. Chandrababu Naidu due to health reasons. The bail is granted for a duration of four weeks, concerning the skill development case, as per PTI reports.
Naidu’s counsel informed the court about the ex-chief minister’s need for cataract surgery. Additionally, the court rescheduled his standard bail request to November 10, as reported by the news agency.
Naidu got apprehended on September 9 regarding the purported ₹3,300 crore scandal linked to the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) during his tenure as the Andhra Pradesh chief minister.
During that occasion, the police came to Naidu’s residence at approximately 3 am. However, they couldn’t detain him due to the substantial gathering of his party supporters who objected to the action. It took about three hours before he was eventually taken into custody.
In March of this year, the Andhra Pradesh Police’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) began an inquiry into the matter. The investigation was initiated following notifications to Arja Srikanth, a former Indian Railway Traffic Service officer who served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the APSSDC in 2016. This action was prompted by statements from an accused turned approver and testimonies from three IAS officers.
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The APSSDC, established in 2016, had the purpose of empowering unemployed youth and providing them with skill training to enhance their job prospects.
As per the CID investigation, during the tenure of the then Chandrababu Naidu government, an agreement was entered into for a project valued at ₹3,300 crore. This agreement involved a consortium comprising Siemens Industry Software India Ltd and Design Tech Systems Pvt Ltd.
Siemens Industry Software India Ltd was responsible for setting up six centers of excellence for skill development. The Andhra government was to contribute approximately ten percent of the total project cost, with the remaining funds provided by the two companies as a grant-in-aid.
According to a CID investigation, the project was launched without adhering to the standard tendering process, and it appears that the state cabinet did not grant approval for the project.
The CID inquiry revealed that Siemens Industry Software India purportedly did not contribute any of its own resources to the project and redirected a significant portion of the ₹371 crore allocated by the state to various shell companies. The CID alleged that the funds intended for the project were funneled into these shell companies.
In response to these allegations, Siemens Global Corporate Office initiated an internal investigation into the project and uncovered that the project manager had diverted government-allocated funds to shell companies through hawala transactions.
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