Mr Nimmagadda Prasad and Mr Brahmananda Reddy, who were arrested on Tuesday by the Central Bureau of Investigation for their involvement in the illegal assets case of Mr Jaganmohan Reddy, were produced before the special court for CBI cases on Wednesday and were sent to 14 days judicial custody.
The CBI wants time to gather information about whether Mr Nimmagadda Prasad, a prominent industrialist, has colluded with Mr Brahmananda Reddy, a senior bureaucrat, to cause losses to the state exchequer. Earlier in the day, the CBI filed a memorandum in the special court for adding Mr Brahmananda Reddy as an accused in the illegal assets case of Mr Jaganmohan Reddy. The memo stated that Mr Brahmananda Reddy, in criminal conspiracy with Mr Nimmagadda Prasad, signed a concession agreement on behalf of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, which was not in tune with the state Cabinet memorandum which was signed with Ras-Al-Kaima for development of Vanpic, of which Mr Nimmagadda Prasad is a promoter.
The concession agreement deviated from the Cabinet approval by allowing entry of another private company, Nava-yuga Engineering Com-pany Ltd. into Vanpic. The agreement also had grave errors and lapses which caused losses to the exchequer. The memo further said that Mr Brahmanand Reddy wrote a letter to the district collectors of Prakasham and Guntur, for 13,000 acres of land for the Vanpic project controlled by Mr Nimmagadda Prasad.
The counsels for Mr Prasad and Mr Brahmananda Reddy asked the court to grant them one day’s time to file a counter. Mr Prasad’s counsel said that there was no urgency to arrest him as he has been cooperating with the CBI investigation, which was opposed by CBI counsel. The court remanded both men to 14 days judicial custody and asked the defence to file a counter challenging the custody and remand filed by the CBI, on Thursday.