Prasad arrested in Jagan assets case

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested leading industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad and former special secretary of infrastructure department K.V. Brahmananda Reddy on Tuesday in the illegal assets’ case of Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. The two were arrested due to irregularities in the port project allotment to Vanpic when Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy was the chief minister.

According to the agency, Mr Prasad — popularly known as Matrix Prasad — had invested Rs 504 crore in companies belonging to Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy as a quid pro quo arrangement for favours received. K.V. Brahmananda Reddy, an IRAS (Indian Railway Account Service) official, is currently in South Eastern Railways. He has been accused of official misconduct and facilitating the fraud.

A CBI team led by the superintendent of police, Mr H. Venkatesh, arrested Mr Prasad and Mr Reddy. Mr Prasad was questioned at the Dilkusha Guest House on Monday and on Tuesday. CBI officials said Mr Prasad will be produced before the Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases’ Court at Nampally on Wednesday. Mr Prasad has been named as Accused No. 12 in the FIR registered by the CBI and his group of companies and Vanpic Ports Private Limited are named as Accused No. 23 in the case.

With the arrest of Mr Prasad and Mr Reddy, the number of persons arrested in the case rose to three, the first being Mr V. Vijay Sai Reddy, the auditor of firms belonging to Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy. The CBI has filed three chargesheets in the case. In the first, it named 13 as accused, in the second it added three names and in the third, it named a further six.

The key allegation is that the exclusive zones of the port area of Nizampatnam in Guntur and Vadarevu in Prakasam districts were extended time to time in violation of the rules to favour the promoters of Vanpic.