Day 1: CBI grills a composed Jagan

[1]

Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was questioned on Sunday, the first day of his CBI custody, at the IG’s office near Chanchalguda prison. After seven days of being in prison, a clean shaven and smiling Mr Reddy seemed composed as he emerged from the jail and got into the waiting car. His wife Bharati Reddy, who had come to meet him during the lunch hour, was denied permission.

Jagan questioned in presence of counsel
Though preparations at the CBI office at Koti on Sunday indicated that Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy would be taken there for interrogation, the venue was changed at the last minute due to security reasons. Mr Reddy’s counsel Ashok Reddy was present during the questioning. A team of CBI officials reached the Chanchalguda prison with the copy of the court order granting custody and Mr Reddy was taken to the officers’ mess of the IG office in a CBI vehicle escorted by the police.

The CBI has accused Mr Reddy of using hawala cha-nnels to send bribe money abroad which was then re-invested in his businesses. It has alleged that investments worth Rs 1,234 crore were made into the his businesses and that Mr Reddy had got richer by Rs 300 crore. The CBI had earlier pointed out how Mr Reddy had floated a number of companies and got investments on a quid pro quo basis from investors who had benefited from decisions of the government led by his father Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy. In the chargesheets filed by the CBI, he has been alleged to have criminally conspired with accused No. 2 V. Vijay Sai Reddy and channelled more than Rs 100 crore of ill-gotten money through various paper/suitcase companies.

‘Jagan’s greed forced family on road’
AICC general secretary and Union health minister Gulam Nabi Azad said Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy was not the first person to be arrested by the CBI on corruption charges. Reacting to the outcry of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy's family over his arrest, Mr Azad reeled out a list of politicians jailed on corruption charges. “Even the Jharkhand Chief Minister and his Cabinet minister were booked for corruption and they are in jail for the last three years,” Mr Azad said.

The then Union minister A. Raja and Kanimozhi, daughter of the DMK chief M. Karunanidhi, were also arrested as was Suresh Kalmadi and Karnataka CM B.S. Yeddyurappa. “In what way is Jagan bigger than these people? Has he dropped down from the sky that we should not arrest him,” Mr Azad asked. He said that the law is not written separately for different people, and the Kadapa MP has to pay the penalty if he is found guilty.

He pointed out that the DMK did not blame the Congress for the arrest of Mr Raja and Ms Kanimozhi, unlike Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy's family, and continued their ties with the UPA government, understanding that the probe had nothing to do with the Congress. Recalling his close ties with Rajasekhar Reddy, starting from their days in the Youth Congress, Mr Azad said that Ms Vijayalakshmi and Ms Sharmila Reddy are like his sister and daughter. He alleged that the greed of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy forced his family to hit the road.