After appearing before the CID investigative officers for the second consecutive day on Wednesday in the Inner Ring Road alignment case, TDP general secretary, Nara Lokesh, revealed that if the Inner Ring Road really teaks shape some of the lands of Heritage have to be sacrificed.
Talking to media persons after attending the inquiry by the CID officials, Lokesh said that he has come to know during the inquiry a fact that the Inner Road is planned through the Heritage lands. Stating that the CID questioned him for almost six hours, he said except three questions they repeated the same queries that were posed on Tuesday.
“The papers pertaining to the Income Tax returns of my mother, Bhuvaneswari, were presented before me. In which she is connected with this case and why the IT returns of my mother were produced before me. The investigative officers should explain as to how they got these documents,” Lokesh asked.
Observing that he is taking this issue seriously, Lokesh made it clear that he will take legal recourse if the officers failed to give a proper reply. They also raised the question on why rent was paid to Lingamaneni Ramesh, he said and stated that paying rent for a house that is let out does not come under quid pro quo.
Lingamaneni Ramesh did not purchase the shares in any of their companies like how shares in the companies owned by the Chief Minister, Jagan Mohan Reddy, worth Rs 10 each were sold at a very high price. “We never looted the public money,” he added.
Maintaining that the salaries of the employees working for the companies owned by Jagan are being paid from the public funds, Lokesh said that the court served notices on Mrs Bharathi, the wife of Jagan, as they tried to increase the business of their establishment through public funds and with the help of the volunteer system.
“They asked questions which were not at all related to my portfolio like setting up of the CRDA, decision to select the capital,” Lokesh observed. Also, the officers asked about the decisions of the Group of Ministers, GO issued, and relaxations given to 99 plots after the court order, he said.
Though the Andhra Pradesh High Court has given permission to the CID to question him only for a day, he said he appeared for the second day too respecting the law and the decision of the CID. “I am ready to appear for a third day too as required,” Lokesh added.
Stating that they have never bought even a single square yard of land in the core capital region, Lokesh made it clear that if anyone can produce any evidence on their owning such lands they are ready to hand over such property to those persons concerned.
Lokesh asked as to why the senior officers like M Prema Chandra Reddy and Kallam Ajay Reddy, who are now sitting beside Jagan as his advisors and who signed the relevant files of the Skill Development project are not being questioned. Why their names are not included in the FIR too, Lokesh asked and felt that keeping former chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu, inside the jail for the past one month is nothing but political vendetta.
