Ex-AP CM held in Skill Development Corporation scam

Amaravati, Agencies: TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu was on Saturday named as the ‘principal conspirator’ by the Andhra Pradesh police in the Skill Development Corporation scam, causing a loss of Rs 300 crore to the state government.

Naidu was arrested inconnection with the fraud in nearly morning police operation which involved officers knocking on the door of the caravan in which he was sleeping.

The former CM was arrested by the CID police around 6 am from a marriage hall (outside which his caravan was parked) at Gnanapuram in Nandyal.

Addressing reporters after Naidu’s arrest, AP CID Chief N Sanjay said the investigation implicated the former AP CM and TDP as beneficiaries of misappropriation of funds. “… this case revolves around the establishment of clusters of Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a total estimated project value of Rs 3,300 crores.

The alleged fraud has caused huge loss to the Government of Andhra Pradesh in excess of Rs 300 crores,” CID Chief Sanjay said.