A special court designated to hear CBI and ED cases in Hyderabad has summoned Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and others to appear before it on September 22 in the Vanpic scam case.
The court has summoned all of the defendants; besides the chief minister, YSRCP MPs Vijaysai Reddy, Mopidevi Venkata Ramana, and MLA Dharmana Prasada Rao have been ordered to present themselves.
The court has also summoned businessmen Nimmagadda Prasad and Nimmagadda Prakash. India Cements, Bharati Cement, Jagati Publication and 12 other businesses groups are named in the case.
The action comes two days after the ED filed its chargesheet in the Vanpic case.
The case pertains to the alleged irregularities in the Vadrarevu and Nizampatnam ports and industrial corridor (Vanpic) project sanctioned during the YS Rajsekhar Reddy regime in united Andhra Pradesh.
The then government run by YS Jagan’s father had signed an MoU with UAE-based Ras Al Khaimah and Nimmagadda Prasad’s Matrix Enport in 2008. The CBI said Prasad was one of the biggest beneficiary of the erstwhile YS Rajasekhara Reddy government for his quid pro quo deal to invest huge amounts in Y.S. Jagan’s business empire.
The CBI alleged that Prasad had invested a whopping Rs. 842 crore in various companies owned by Jagan, including Rs. 450 crore in Jagathi Publications, the media venture that brings out Sakshi daily, Rs. 252 crore in Bharati Cements, Rs 32 crore in Sandur Power Company Limited, Rs. 20 crore in Carmel Asia Holdings Ltd and Rs 28 crore in Silicon Builders.
In return, the YSR government had awarded Nimmagadda Prasad the Vanpic project, envisioned as a world-class port and an integrated industrial cluster. The ED has attached 13,000 acres allotted by the Andhra Pradesh government to the project.
