CBI cracks down on Jagan,searches 95 sites in 9 cities

In Hyderabad,the CBI teams searched Jaganmohans mansion at Banjara Hills as well as the Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills residences of his sister Sharmila Reddy,who is also the wife of evangelist Brother Anil Kumar.

Searches were also carried out at the Mahindra Hills residence of IAS officer B P Acharya who was principal secretary,Industries,and presided over the land deal with Emaar Properties in his capacity as MD of AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) and the Sainikpuri residence of industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad,an investor in Jaganmohans Jagathi Publications which publishes Telugu daily Sakshi.

The CBI has registered FIRs against Jaganmohan and Emaar Properties. The alleged irregularities in the Emaar deal reportedly resulted in a loss of Rs 4,130 crore to the state exchequer. Jaganmohan and others have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code,Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act as directed by the High Court.

A CBI official said the agency has registered two cases (under Section 120-B read with 420,409,420,477A and Sec.13(2) read with 13(1)(c) & (d) of PC Act,1988) against Jaganmohan and others on the allegation that those who invested in the companies owned and promoted by him did so as quid pro quo for the favours doled out by his father and then chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

Searches are being conducted at Hyderabad,Bangalore,Chennai,Kolkata,Rajkot,Delhi and Mumbai,in this connection, he said. Officials claimed to have seized documents which are being scrutinised.

CBI teams also searched the offices of Sakshi at Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad and other cities; the offices of Bharathi Cements,whose chairperson is Jaganmohans wife Bharathi Reddy; and Jaganmohans firms Sandur Power,Pulivendula Polymers.

The premises of over 36 companies that directly or indirectly invested in Jaganmohans businesses were also searched. The CBI also searched the premises of Hetero Drugs and its CMD Partha Sarathy Reddy,and other companies owned by him like Alpha Ventures and Alpha Villas,and the residence of Vijay Sai Reddy,who is vice-president of Jagathi Publications.

Searches were also carried out at the residences and office of Lagadapati Sridhar,MD of Lanco (Sridhar) Group and youngest brother of Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal.

However,none of Jaganmohans political friends were searched,including former MLA Ambati Rambabu,who was chairman of APIIC when the Emaar deal was brokered and is now Jaganmohans spokesman. The cases were registered acting on the separate petitions filed by Textile Minister P Shankar Rao and TDP leader Yerran Naidu,in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, said a CBI spokesperson in Delhi.

With inputs from Delhi