MHA places service at disposal of State Govt
Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 27: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has placed the services of Ashok Prasad, a 1979 batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, presently posted as Additional Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir, at the disposal of State Government for posting as new Director General of Police (DGP) in place of Kuldeep Khoda, who is retiring from the services on May 31.
The new DGP would most likely take the charge on June 1 in Srinagar, the summer capital of the State, where Mr Prasad is headquartered at present.
Official sources told the Excelsior that out of a panel of three senior IPS officers prepared by the MHA for posting as new DGP of the State on retirement of Mr Khoda, the name of Mr Prasad has been cleared for the prestigious post. A formal order of the posting of Mr Prasad as new DGP of sensitive Jammu and Kashmir State could be issued by the Government on May 30 or 31 to facilitate his joining on June 1.
He was posted in J&K as Additional Director, Intelligence Bureau, for the past over one year. He had earlier also served in Jammu and Kashmir as Deputy Director of Intelligence Bureau, Srinagar when the militancy was at its peak and, therefore, was well versed with aspects of militancy and other issues faced by the State.
The post of Joint Director, Intelligence Bureau in Government of India for Srinagar, had been upgraded to the rank of Additional Director before the joining of Ashok Prasad.
A native of Bihar, Mr Prasad was among few top ranking officers of Intelligence Bureau after premier agency’s Director, Nehchal Sandhu, a 1974 batch IPS officer, the same that of Mr Khoda. However, Mr Sandhu’s has protected tenure of two years till December 31, 2012.
Mr Prasad has services till January 2016. He is a Post Graduate (MA Hindi) and winner of President’s Medal in 1999.
Sources said the Ministry of Home Affairs has finally conveyed to the State Government the name of Ashok Prasad for posting as new DGP in the State. The MHA had on April 22 submitted a panel of three senior IPS officers to the J&K Government for consideration for the post of DGP on the retirement of Mr Khoda on May 31 after a tenure of more than five years.
Two other names in the panel included Arun Chowdhary, a 1977 batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre and PM Nair, a 1978 batch IPS officer of the same cadre.
Mr Chowdhary was presently posted as Special Director General of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Incharge Airports Security. He has also services in Jammu and Kashmir as Deputy Director and Joint Director of Intelligence Bureau in Jammu and Kashmir.
Mr Nair, Special Director General (Operations) of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), having headquarters at New Delhi, had also served in the State as IG CRPF Jammu in 2005-2006.
Last year, Mr Nair had been nominated for his appointment as DGP IN Naxalite infested Jharkhand but was dropped at the eleventh hour.
Sources said the Additional Directors of Intelligence Bureau are equivalent to the rank of DGPs of the States and, therefore, qualified for heading the post of State police chiefs.
According to sources, the name of Ashok Prasad was preferred over two other nominees of MHA and Jammu and Kashmir cadre IPS officers in view of his experience for his twice posting in Jammu and Kashmir especially in Srinagar—first as Deputy Director of Intelligence Bureau in Srinagar followed by Additional Director, Intelligence Bureau, J&K.
Mr Khoda was 1974 batch IPS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre while Mr Prasad is 1977 batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre.
After Mr Khoda, two senior most IPS officers in Jammu and Kashmir were that of 1984 batch. They included K Rajendera, Additional DGP Law and Order and Armed and Pitambar Lal Gupta, Vigilance Commissioner. Mr Rajendera has services till 2016 and Mr Gupta till 2015. Mr Prasad also has services till January 2016.
After Mr Rajendera and Mr Gupta, there were three IPS officers of 1985 batch in Jammu and Kashmir cadre. They are—Ram Lubaya, Additional DG Security, SK Mishra, who was presently on deputation with the Border Security Force (BSF) and S Gopal Reddy, who was on deputation to Andhra Pradesh. All of them were in the rank of Additional DGPs.
Mr Lubaya is due to retire next year while Mr Reddy has services till 2016 and Mr Mishra till 2019.
Three remaining Additional DGPs in Jammu and Kashmir are from 1986 batch from J&K cadre including Dr Shesh Pal Vaid, Additional DGP Headquarters, Ms D R Doley, Additional DGP Home Guards and Civil Defence and Naveen Aggarwal, Additional DG Prisons Department.
Dr Vaid has services till 2019 while Ms Doley and Mr Aggarwal have services till 2021.

MUMBAI, May 27:
Appealing the Governments of India and Pakistan to slash their respective defence spending, a media conclave here called for channelling the funds for socio-economic development in both the countries.
“We have talked enough about building peaceful relationships between the countries, now let us concentrate on the real issues affecting the people of both the countries”, observed speakers at a media conclave held in Navi Mumbai at the fag-end of the Mumbai visit of a 14-member media delegation from Pakistan.
“Increasing tension between India and Pakistan, piling up of arms worth billions of dollars helps only arms merchants from the US and other countries and is not at all in the interests of poverty-stricken India and Pakistan,” said Tahir Hasan Khan, president of the Karachi Press Club, which is leading the media delegation of scribes from Karachi and Sindh.
“We (the Pak delegates) have seen homeless people sleeping on the pavements of Mumbai and it is the similar situation in Karachi and other cities there,” he said, adding that the Governments of both the countries should spend more on poverty alleviation and creating jobs rather than “mindless spending” on purchase of arms that helps only the western powers “at the cost of our own people”.
Journalists from Mumbai threw pointed questions at the Pakistan media on their opinion and role over the US using Pakistan as its base and strengthening arms buildup in the region.
“It is not just Pakistan, the US has been successfully fooling even India to suit the western super power’s arms manufacturers,” said Karamat Ali, Executive Director of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER).
PILER, along with Karachi Press Club, hosted the Indian media delegation’s trip to Pakistan in November and also the current visit by the scribes from the neighbouring country.
“Let us leave the knotty issues of Kashmir and Siachen to be tackled at the Government levels. As people we must together concentrate in handling common problems of Roti, Kapda and Makaan (food, clothing and shelter),” Ali said drawing a loud applause.
Navi Mumbai Mayor Sagar Naik, who was the chief guest at the conclave hosted by Valuable Group, said he was pained to learn that both India and Pakistan were busy building up massive defences. “We are erecting high walls of defence while our homes are becoming hollow,” he observed.
Indo-Pak peace activist Jatin Desai said it was high time that media from both the countries addressed the real issues affecting the neighbours.
Since their arrival in Mumbai last week, the Pakistan media delegation has had a hectic schedule in Mumbai meeting Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Home Minister R R Patil, Public Works Minister Chagan Bhujbal, besides participating in seminars, discussions hosted by the Press Club, Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh and Vidhi Mandal Patrakar Sangh. They visited Mumbai’s landmarks like the BSE, Gateway of India and had a chat with actor Aamir Khan.
The discussions were basically focused on increased media cooperation to build lasting peace in the region and improved trade relations, which will help create jobs in both the countries.
The Press Clubs of Mumbai and Karachi have agreed to set up an Information Exchange on their web sites. (PTI)

Neeraj Rohmetra

JAMMU, May 27: Though the State Government has been putting the onus for review of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) on the Central Government, the Union Home Ministry hasn’t received any proposal from the State Government in this regard so far.
An official of the rank of Deputy Secretary associated with Home Ministry confirmed that no written communication had been submitted by the State Government for revocation of the controversial Act.
When asked about the process for revocation of the AFSPA from the border State, the sources said, “once the Jammu and Kashmir Government submits a proposal, the same would be examined as per the Allocation of Business Rules, 1961. But, till date no such proposal had been received by the Union Ministry”.
Sources stated that the State Government had processed the entire matter relating to notification/ implementation of AFSPA Act. “As per the records available with Home Ministry, no such communication has been issued by the Union Ministry in relation to implementation of the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Power Act, 1990”.
Further, the Government of India has also directed the State Government to review the notification of the areas as ‘disturbed areas’ under the Armed Forces (J&K) Special Powers Act, 1990. These directions were issued after the feedback obtained from All Party Delegation comprising various political leaders, which visited the State in September 2010 and had series of interactions with all sections of people.
The 39-member delegation comprised senior Parliamentary party leaders such as BJP’s Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Basudeb Acharia of the CPI(M), Gurudas Dasgupta of the CPI, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav, T R Baalu (DMK), Ramvilas Paswan (LJP), Dinesh Trivedi (Trinamool), E Ahamed (Indian Union Muslim League) and Govind Rao Adik (NCP).
Official sources also corroborated that if the State Government reviews the Disturbed Areas Act, the AFSPA will automatically cease to exist. “If the Act is reviewed, then automatically if the Disturbed Areas Act does not apply to areas in Kashmir, the AFSPA is not applied to that area of Jammu and Kashmir. If they (State Government) decide to lift DAA from say five places, then AFSPA would not apply to those five places”.
The State Government had also last year constituted a Committee to review Disturbed Areas Act (DAA), which had held some meetings. The Committee comprised Director General of Police, Home Secretary and Corps Commander of 15 Corps (for Kashmir) and Corps Commander of 16-Corps (for Jammu). While two meetings of the Committee were held last year, another meting took place early this year.
AFSPA was imposed in areas of Kashmir and Jammu after the eruption of militancy in 1990 and 2001 respectively. The then Additional Chief Secretary (Home) issued a notification vide SRO-SW4 dated July 6,1990 declaring the Kashmir Valley and parts of Rajouri, Poonch district as disturbed.
As a sequel to this, another order to notify Jammu region as disturbed was issued by the then Principal Secretary Home vide order number 219/97-ISA dated August 10,2001. The notification had declared districts of Jammu, Udhampur, Poonch, Rajouri and Doda as disturbed areas to facilitate the imposition of AFSPA there.
The State Government has been strongly advocating the process of revoking AFSPA by lifting it from peaceful areas, where there are little or no traces of militancy-related violence. They had been demanding that AFSPA, which gives armed forces in the state special powers, be lifted from districts of Jammu, Samba, Kathua in Jammu region and Srinagar and Badgam in Kashmir Valley.
Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram in his visit to the State on April 10 this year while ruling out the revocation of the ‘contentious’ Act had stated that his Ministry was considering three amendments to be incorporated in the Act, which were under consideration of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Security (CCS).

Moratorium for 3 years on opening of new Pvt BEd Colleges likely
Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 27: In order to give thrust to multifaceted growth in transport infrastructure, the State Government is planning to establish Jammu and Kashmir State Road Development Corporation and a proposal in this regard is being placed before the State Cabinet, which is meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah at Karnah in Kupwara district on May 31. The Cabinet is also likely to impose moratorium for three years on the opening of new private BEd Colleges in the State.
Authoritative sources told EXCELSIOR that Public Works (R&B) Department has worked out a detailed proposal in consultation with the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, who is also holding the portfolio of R&B, for establishment of Jammu and Kashmir State Road Development Corporation in order to give a thrust to comprehensive growth in transport infrastructure.
“The State Road Development Corporation, which as per the proposal would be notified as State Highway Authority for the roads to be declared as State Highways, is intended to promote surface infrastructure by taking up road works, including tunneling and appurtenant structures and to take up projects on Build-Own Transfer (BOT), Build-Own-Operate and Transfer (BOOT), Build-Own-Lease and Transfer (BOLT) under Public Private Partnership (PPP) as well as major projects entrusted by State and Central Governments”, sources said.
About the objectives of the Corporation, sources said that it will act as nodal agency of the State Government for executing major roads and allied infrastructure projects, prepare and develop strategic plans for the State road sector and identification and selection of projects based upon economic, social, technical and commercial criteria.
The Corporation will also encourage private sector participation in transport infrastructure, raise resources for the identified projects, develop projects in the State on public private partnership basis and undertake projects outside J&K either in joint venture or alone, sources informed, adding the Corporation will have the responsibility of attracting Viability Gap Funding from Union Ministry of Road and Transport and Planning Commission besides reducing dependence on State exchequer in respect of maintenance of State Highways and Major District Roads.
In order to ensure that establishment of Corporation don’t put any financial burden on the State exchequer, the existing Project Organization implementing Mughal Road Project will initially discharge the functions of JKSRDC till the time Corporation becomes fully operational and has such projects in hand which can meet the financial requirement of additional key personnel, sources said, adding it has been proposed that at the outset no new creation will be made and minimally needed staff will be provided by internal adjustment by Administrative Department of R&B.
Chief Minister will be the Chairman of the Corporation while as Minister for PW (R&D) Department Senior Vice-Chairman and Chief Secretary as Vice-Chairman. The Administrative Secretaries of PWD, Finance, Planning and Development, Forest, Housing and Urban Development Departments and MD of the Corporation will be its Directors.
“Initially, the Administrative Secretary of R&B Department will hold the charge of Managing Director of Corporation and Chief Engineer, Project Organization as Additional MD. However, at the later stage, the MD will be replaced by a full time IAS officer of Selection Grade”, sources informed, adding the Corporation will have the mandate to frame State Road Development Policy for a period of 20 years by constituting a task force.
Disclosing that Planning and Finance Departments have already conveyed approval for establishment of Corporation, sources said that Planning and Development Department has also agreed to provide Rs 1 crore as Share Capital to the Corporation soon after its establishment.
Sources informed that Cabinet will also consider and accord approval to the proposal of the Higher Education Department for imposing moratorium for three years on the opening of new private BEd Colleges.
“The private BEd colleges have been established with a purpose to equip and train the teachers for better practices in teaching and for upgrading standards of teaching but the School Education Department has fixed the requisite qualification for recruitment of teachers as 10+2 and there is no specific preference for BEd”, sources said, adding “there is only a weight-age of points for BEd and MEd courses as such the purpose for the establishment of BEd Colleges for maintaining better standards is getting defeated”.
Keeping in view the prevailing situation, the policy of School Education Department for the recruitment of teachers would require a review in prescribed qualification for a teacher so that they can properly contribute in educating future generations.
“The Higher Education Department is of the opinion that till BEd is made compulsory requirement for recruitment of teachers on the pattern of other States and the Colleges already established get fully equipped besides adopting uniform standards prescribed by NCTE, the moratorium on opening of new private BEd colleges should continue for maintenance and up-gradation of standards”, sources said, adding “the Higher Education Department is also seeking directions to School Education Department to consider re-framing Recruitment Rules for teachers with BEd as basic qualification”.

3 day Sectt Gherao, one day Raj Bhawan march
Jehangir Rashid

SRINAGAR, May 27: The Jammu and Kashmir State Employees Joint Consultative Committee, JCC, today suffered a major set back when one of its major factions led by Ram Kumar Sharma pulled out of it following serious differences with rest of the members over future protest programme of the Government employees that was announced today.
The JCC members from Employees Joint Action Committee-Khursheed (EJAC-K), Employees Joint Action Committee-Qayoom (EJAC-Q) and Jammu and Kashmir National Trade Union Front (JKNTUF) today called for 3 day Secretariat gherao programme beginning from June 13 and one day general strike on June 16 and on that day employees have been asked to march towards Srinagar wherefrom a march to Raj Bhawan will be carried out.
The decision was taken in JCC meeting a day after the senior JCC leaders were released last night. Over 300 employees and their leaders were arrested during their 3 day agitation last week.
The Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC-R) headed by Ram Kumar Sharma told Excelsior that his faction is not with the next phase of agitation as was announced by the JCC today. He accused other factions of softening their stand and said his faction will chalk out their programme soon.
Kumar announced parting ways with the JCC following differences over the next phase of agitation. The differences between EJAC-R and other JCC constituents came to the fore during a meeting today when the latter as per Kumar reversed its decision of four day strike programme. “All the four factions of the employees took a joint decision on Saturday on future programme but today it was reversed”, he alleged.
Talking to Excelsior, EJAC-R President, Kumar said that there is no justification for secretariat gherao programme, since the Government has not done anything after the previous programmes of secretariat gherao. He accused the leaders of EJAC-K, EJAC-Q and JKNTUF of changing the agenda of today’s meeting.
“We don’t subscribe to the programme given by the JCC leaders today and we have decided to part ways with the JCC. Today’s meeting was scheduled to fix the dates of the next round of strikes. Instead of adopting a tough stand, the JCC leaders softened their stand and decided to adopt a modest approach of the agitation programme,” said Sharma.
He said that 12 office bearers of EJAC-K, EJAC-Q, EJAC-R and JKNTUF took the decision of four day strike programme during the Saturday’s meeting. He said the finalization of dates was not done as the top leadership of the JCC was in detention and they were authorized to take a final call as far as dates are concerned.
“Two meetings were held on Saturday and today’s meeting was held to finalize the dates of the strikes. As the JCC constituents softened their stand we came out of the meeting and as such we are not a part of the next phase of agitation as announced by JCC. We would sit and chalk out the future course of action,” said Sharma.
EJAC-R general secretary, Rafiq Ahmad Khanyari said that there was no harm in giving the agitation a breather. He said there was no need for JCC to announce a fresh phase of agitation adding that 15 days time could have been given to the Government to concede the demands of the Government employees.
“The secretariat gherao programme as announced by JCC is totally uncalled for and we don’t subscribe to it. As the top leadership of JCC was set free yesterday un-conditionally it would have been prudent to wait and give some time to the Government for fulfilling the demands of the employees,” said Rafiq.
Purshottam Sharma, General Secretary, Central Non-Gazetted Electrical Employees Union (CNGEEU) said that there is no justification for JCC to revert to gherao programmes when the State Government has been shaken by the three day strike programme of May 24 to May 26.
Meanwhile, EJAC-K President and senior JCC leader, Mohammad Khursheed Alam while addressing a press conference here said that he would lead a protest demonstration of the Government employees outside the civil secretariat on June 13. He said JCC leaders Abdul Qayoom Wani and Mohammad Gafoor Dar would also lead protest demonstrations outside the civil secretariat on June 14 and June 15 respectively.
“We are giving a time-frame of 17 days to the state government to fulfill our demands. On June 16 the employees would observe a one day strike and the employees would march towards Srinagar. We would then march towards Raj Bhawan in support of our demands in case those are not met by then,” said Khursheed.
Responding to Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ali Mohammad Sagar’s assertion that the employees strike is un-provoked and un-justified, Khursheed said that Government has failed to implement the agreement reached with the JCC leaders on September 15 last year.
He said the Government has also failed to meet the deadline of March 31, 2012 set for taking a final decision on the recommendations given by the committee formed to examine the various demands of the Government employees. He said the decision to defer the strike has also been taken in view of the losses suffered by the students due to lock out in Government educational institutions.
JCC leader and EJAC-Q President, Abdul Qayoom Wani said that agitation strategy has been modified and it is due to this reason that the next phase would concentrate more on Secretariat gherao than strikes. He expressed his gratitude to the employees for making the three day programme of May 24 to May 26 a success.
“It is not necessary to carry out strikes every time and the strategy can be modified according to the situation. We don’t want confrontation with the State Government and as such we are giving some time for them to fulfill the genuine demands of the government employees,” said Qayoom.
JCC leader and JKNTUF President, Mohammad Gafoor Dar said that the Government should immediately take a decision on the demands of the Government. He said the daily wagers and the left over daily wagers of 1994 should be regularized without any further delay.
“Daily wagers and left over daily wagers working in PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control and Forest department should be regularized. The other demands too should be fulfilled so that there is no further confrontation with the employees and the things move in a smooth manner,” said Gafoor.
EJAC (Q) leader and General Secretary of ITI employees Union, Mohammad Abbas, said that the State Government should not waste more time and fulfill the demands of the Government employees. He expressed his gratitude to the employees of Technical Education department for observing three day strike from May 24 to May 26.

We removed discrimination: Baig
Excelsior Correspondent

HIRANAGAR (Kathua), May 27: Reiterating resolve of his party to aggressively pursue the pro-peace agenda, patron of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said that prevailing peace on the borders, from Kathua to Kargil, was result of the reconciliation process started by the PDP during its tenure.
Addressing an impressive public meeting here, the Mufti said that PDP had pioneered a peace and reconciliation process which was endorsed by the successive regimes at New Delhi and Islamabad.
“PDP has shown in the past that it can facilitate the resolution process with prudence, and it is ready to shoulder the responsibility of taking the process to its logical conclusion,” he asserted and reminded the people that it was all due to the efforts of PDP that residents of border areas were living peaceful life. “In 2002 we had only 16 members but still we had pursued the peace process and established peace in this region. It was all due to the efforts of the PDP that peace was restored in the sub-continent”, he said.
“It was all due to the credibility of the PDP that previous NDA regime headed by Atal Behari Vajpayee and present UPA government led by Dr Manmohan Singh whole heartedly supported initiatives taken by us for restoring peace in this region”, Mr Sayeed said while recalling the historic rally of then Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee at Kashmir on April18, 2003 when he had extended hands of friendship towards Pakistan at the time when tension was running high on borders.
Highlighting achievements of PDP led regime, he said PDP led coalition regime had carved out a path of peace and equitable development in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that coalition regime had revived peoples’ faith in the democratic institutions. “Removing regional imbalance and creating atmosphere for initiating peace process was the remarkable achievement of PDP led coalition”, he observed.
Restoring peace and accelerating equitable development is the one and only agenda of PDP, the Mufti said and asserted that during the PDP led coalition regional, imbalances were removed and equal treatment was given to all regions and sub-regions.
Speaking on the occasion, former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig said that before 2002, there were complaints of step motherly treatment and discrimination with Jammu and Ladakh regions.
“Our Government had initiated many steps to remove these discriminations. In every sphere of life equal treatment is given to all regions of State”, he said and pointed out that Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh were treated equally as far as opening of Universities, Colleges, schools and developmental projects are concerned.
“It is our achievement that we successfully removed these discriminations”, he asserted. Calling upon the people to compare performance of PDP led regime with the decades long mis-governance of successive National Conference led regimes, he said that previous regime had provided good governance to the people.
“As far as the performance of present alliance is concerned, it appears only on papers and nothing concrete was visible on ground”, Mr Baig said, adding, “for the last more than three years functioning of this dispensation is appearing only on papers and at grassroots level not even a single promise has been so far implemented”.

NEW DELHI, May 27:
Just before his retirement, Army Chief Gen V K Singh has ratified a court martial decision to dismiss former military secretary Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash from service after he was found guilty by an Army court in the Sukna land scam case.
The dismissal means that he will not get any benefits like pension and will not be entitled to use Army rank or any privilege attached with military service.
Prakash is the senior-most officer to have been awarded this punishment by the Army.
The Army Chief confirmed the sentence awarded to the former Military Secretary by a General Court Martial (GCM) in December last year.
The decision was taken by Gen V K Singh on May 21, ten days before his retirement from service, sources told here.
Commenting on the development, Prakash said, “I am considering various options available under the service rules and legal remedies to protest against the decision taken by the Army Chief.”
In recent interviews, the Army Chief has also blamed the former Military Secretary for raking up the age issue by filing RTIs.
Prakash was held guilty of misusing his position under Section 45 (conduct unbecoming of his position as an officer) and Section 52 (intent to defraud) of the Army Act by the General Court Martial at 51 sub-area of the Army station at Narengi in Guwahati. (PTI)

HYDERABAD, May 27:
Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who made a stunning rise in politics after rebelling against Congress, was today arrested by the CBI in a disproportionate assets case.
The arrest of 39-year-old Jagan came after three days of intense grilling by the CBI and comes just ahead of byelections to 18 Assembly seats and 1 Lok Sabha seat in the State.
“CBI arrested Jaganmohan Reddy at 7.15 PM,” CBI spokesperson said.
Agency officials said the Jagan was questioned for three consecutive days and his answers to certain investments made by a few companies to Sakshi television abd Jagriti publications, owned by him, were not convincing.
CBI officials said Jagan was arrested for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Some routing of funds have been detected from tax havens like Mauritius and Isle of Mann, indicating that there were quid pro quo investments in his TV channel and publication by some companies which were given land in the much sought after Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Park, they said.
Soon after his arrest, Jagan told party leaders who had come to meet him, that his supporters should maintain calm and not resort to any violence keeping in view the upcoming bypolls.
“I will fight this battle legally in the courts and I am confident of a positive outcome,” he said.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma, said the security situation was under control, amid apprehensions that there may be law and order problem following Jagan’s arrest.
Jagan’s financial advisor Vijay Sai Reddy (another accused in the case) accompanied him to the Dilkusha guest house, where he was questioned for nearly nine hours today.
The Kadapa MP is being grilled by the CBI since May 25 over the VANPIC project and for allegedly getting investments of several crores into his businesses from various firms and investors on quid pro quo arrangements, when his father late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
The YSR Congress Chief, who was questioned for over eight and seven hours in the last two days, had yesterday said he had replied to clarifications sought by the CBI.
Jagan’s anticipatory bail petition will come up for further hearing tomorrow with CBI being asked to file its counter.
Hyderabad police have clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC in the city, besides heavy deployment of AP Special Police and RAF personnel on Raj Bhavan road where the Dilkusha guest house is located.
The CBI has so far filed three charge sheets in the case. It has charged Jagan and his father of hatching a conspiracy to defraud the government with Jagan influencing his father in doling out favours to certain investors, who pumped in several crores into Jagan’s businesses as a quid pro quo arrangement.
Emerging from the guest house after meeting Jagan, Congress rebel MP Sabam Hari said the “injustice” done to Jagan with his arrest will be fought legally.
“It is a Congress-TDP conspiracy to arrest Jagan. We will peacefully protest against his arrest. Jagan’s mother will lead the agitation,” Ambati Rambabu, YSR Congress spokesperson said.
Former TDP leader M V Mysoora Reddy, who recently joined the YSR Congress, termed the arrest as unfortunate while TRS leader K T Rama Rao, said many Congress Ministers were involved in the ‘conspiracy” against Jagan. (PTI)