Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders and supporters staged a protest against the arrest of former chief minister and party leader N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday in Amravati, ahead of the start of the assembly session in Andhra Pradesh. Undavalli Sridevi, a former YSRCP MLA, joined the demonstration and declared that we were protesting Chandrababu Naidu’s unlawful arrest because there was no evidence against him.
“We are going to protest on the illegal arrest of Chandrababu Naidu…He has 40 years of political experience. He has done nothing and this is a bogus case…Being an independent MLA, I will support him along with TDP because there is no evidence…I am just questioning the present government and CID Additional DG N Sanjay…We are going for a cross-petition…the truth will prevail,” Undavalli Sridevi said.
Earlier, on Tuesday, the Andhra Pradesh High Court adjourned the bail petition of Naidu to September 21.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court in Vijayawada ordered Naidu to be held in judicial custody for 14 days, from September 10 until September 23, in connection with the case. According to the officials, the case in which Naidu was detained involves the creation of clusters of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a total estimated project value of Rs 3300 crore.
The agency officials also claimed that the alleged fraud has caused a huge loss to the state government in excess of Rs 300 crore.