Andhra Pradesh’s ruling YSR Congress Party on Monday demanded a probe by the central investigation agencies into the link between Yes Bank and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
The YSRCP alleged that Naidu seems to have used the bank for his ‘hawala’ transactions.
Information and Public Relations and Transport Minister Perni Venkataramaiah claimed that Rs 1,300 crores of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) deposited in Yes Bank is only the tip of the iceberg of Naidu’s “shady deals”. He demanded a probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and other agencies.
Alleging that Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor swindled crores of rupees of public money, the YSRCP leader said TTD funds were deposited in Yes Bank against the norms at the instance of the then Chief Minister Naidu and the Centre should order thorough inquiry into the whole affair.
The TTD clarified last week that it withdrew Rs 1,300 crore from Yes Bank in October last year as the deposit had reached maturity.
The minister alleged Naidu had used Yes Bank to transfer all the money he had accumulated over the past five years, out of the country. Noting that Naidu had conducted a global Summit at New Delhi in collaboration with the Yes Bank, he also alleged that lakhs of rupees were wasted to prepare a Tourism Mission Document.
All the dumps recovered by the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Department over the past seven months can be traced to Chandrababu Naidu’s house, he claimed and alleged that the recent investigations conducted by the ED into the ‘hawala’ racket by a big Mumbai construction company could also be traced to his house.
“We are requesting the Centre not to stop the investigation with Rana Kapoor but also include all those who were involved in Hawala transactions with Yes Bank. We also seek the arrest of Naidu who was involved in money-laundering.”
Naidu had looted crores of rupees in the name of construction of houses to the poor by establishing Township Infrastructure Development Corporation (TIDCO) and illegally entrusting house construction contracts to it, he alleged.
