Did the Central Bureau of Investigation or the Enforcement Directorate teams conduct a recce for the arrest of YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Saturday?
Top leaders in the Jagan camp suspected there was some movement of officials when he returned from Visakhapatnam after touring Pallam in Katrenikona mandal of East Godavari district on his Odarpu yatra.
A source close to the Jagan camp said that it was rumoured that the CBI or the ED were at the airport but the teams held back in the last minute as they didn’t get the go-ahead. Sources said that the probe by the CBI was now being monitored closely by top officials in New Delhi, especially after the local officials came under criticism.
However, police officials did not confirm this.
The CBI has almost finalised its investigations in Reddy’s illegal assets case after registering statements of several IAS officials and investors in the Kadapa MP’s companies. Statements of the accused have been recorded and Mr Reddy’s auditor Vijay Sai Reddy has already been arrested in the case.
The news of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy’s impending arrest led to the mobilisation of a large number of YSR Congress leaders and activists at his residence at Lotus Pond on Saturday midnight and Sunday morning.
Around 2,500 activists gathered at his residence after news spread that he was likely to be arrested. Their fears were allayed only when Mr Reddy came out of the residence and waved to them.
Officially, the Jagan camp rubbished the reports stating that it was part of a vicious campaign by the Telugu Desam and that the media was supporting it. YSR Congress spokesperson Ambati Rambabu came down heavily on the TDP, a section of the media and the CBI.