TDP leader Nara Lokesh reaches SIT office for investigation in inner Ring Road case

TIRUPATHI: TDP leader Nara Lokesh reaches the SIT office for investigation in the Inner Ring Road case to serve Andhra Pradesh CID Notices about irregularities in the Inner Ring Road case. CID added Nara Lokesh as A-14 (Accused 14) in the Inner Ring Road alignment case CID is to interrogate Nara Lokesh till 5 pm on Tuesday as per court orders.

Earlier, TDP leader Nara Lokesh staged a protest along with his supporters in the national capital after the CID in Andhra Pradesh served a notice on him in connection with the Amaravati Inner Ring Road 'scam' case. The protest was held outside the Delhi residence of TDP MP Jayadev Galla.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday directed the state CID not to arrest Nara Lokesh in connection with the alleged skill development and AP FiberNet scams till October 4. The high court passed the direction during a hearing on anticipatory bail pleas in both cases by Lokesh. The court adjourned the hearing on both bail pleas to October 4.

In May 2022, the CID had registered an FIR against Chandrababu Naidu, former municipal administration minister Dr P. Narayana, Heritage Foods Ltd, and others, for alleged irregularities in the construction of an internal ring road in Amaravati. The FIR was filed based on a complaint from YSR Congress Party MLA A. Rama Krishna Reddy. It was alleged that certain illegal and corrupt activities were committed by highly placed government officials between 2014 and 2019 with regard to the design of master plan for the Andhra Pradesh capital and alignment of the ring road to cause wrongful gain to certain individuals.

Significantly, TDP supremo and Nara Lokesh's father, Chandrababu Naidu is currently in judicial custody in connection with the alleged multi-crore skill development scam. The former Andhra CM has approached the Supreme Court, seeking cancellation of the FIR against him alleging that the YSR Congress government in the state had "falsely" implicated him in the case in a bid to muzzle the voice of the Opposition in the state.