Ram Gopal Varma reacts to complaint over alleged post on Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma faces a police case over an alleged social media post about Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu and his family, sparking an investigation.
TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh has sought anticipatory bail from the Andhra Pradesh High Court after the CID submitted a memo in the Anti-Corruption Bureau court naming him as an accused in the Amaravati Inner Ring Alignment scam case.
Meanwhile, hearing in the high court in the same case, his father and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s anticipatory bail was adjourned till 29 September.
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The anticipatory bail plea was filed in the court by his lawyers on behalf of Lokesh who is away in Delhi. The CID’s memo in ACB court had made him Accused No. 14 while his father, Naidu, was designated as Accused No.1 and his former Cabinet colleague P Narayana named Accused No.2.
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According to the CID, the draft Perspective Plan was changed in such a way under the duo that the Inner Ring Road was adjacent to the plots belonging to Ramesh Lingamaneni, a businessman close to Chandrababu Naidu and Heritage Foods Limited which is the family business of the former chief minister.
Lokesh pleaded that the project did not belong to his department, which was Information Technology. However, according to the government, he was one of the main shareholders of Heritage Foods Limited and a key management personnel till 2017.
Allegedly, the initial design was changed so that the proposed Inner Ring Road was shifted from the border of the capital city to 2-3 km southwards towards two villages – Kaza and Kontheru to ensure it was adjacent to the plots of Lingamaneni Estate and Heritage Foods.
It was further alleged that it was ensured that only a minimal portion of their land was ensured to build the road. The CID has accused the TDP president of receiving the Krishna riverfront guest house on Karkatta Road at Undavalli in Vijayawada in which he resided as chief minister, as quid pro quo from the Lingamanenis.
The YSRCP government has claimed that the farmers of the area suffered losses because of depreciation in their land value due to a change in design.
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