VIJAYAWADA: In a fresh development, the AP Crime Investigation Department (APCID) has added the name of former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu as an accused in the alleged scam in the phase-1 AP FiberNet project and sought Prisoner Transit warrant against the former Chief Minister, who is currently lodged in the Rajahmundry Central Prison following his arrest in the AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam case.
On Tuesday, the CID submitted a memo mentioning Naidu as Accused No. 25 in the case and also filed a petition in the court for a PT warrant against the TDP chief. According to the CID, Naidu was holding an Energy, Infrastructure and Investment portfolio when the project was conceptualised. He had got the FiberNet project executed by the Energy, Infrastructure and Investment Department instead of the IT Department and another accused in the case, Vemuri Harikrishna Prasad, was appointed as a member of the Governing Council, despite the latter’s criminal background.
Naidu had given approval for the estimates of the FiberNet project without considering the fact that no market survey was done for it. Naidu had also brought pressure on senior government officials to include Harikrishna Prasad in various tender evaluation committees to revoke the blacklisting of Tera Software Pvt Ltd to award the tender to it even as other bidders such as Pace Power had opposed it. The former Chief Minister had got some officials transferred in the process, the CID mentioned.
Though the issue of irregularities that took place in the tender process was raised in the State Assembly, Naidu had denied the allegations. During its investigation, the CID found manipulation of the tender process to allot the work order of the first phase of the Rs 330 crore project to a particular company by flouting rules. Several irregularities were found from awarding the tender to the completion of the project, causing a huge loss to the State exchequer.
It was also found that due to the use of substandard material, violating the conditions and non-adherence to the specifications had rendered 80 per cent of optic fibre cable laid unusable, which hit the life span of the FiberNet project. “The deviations in the execution of the FiberNet project had caused a loss of `114 crore to the exchequer,’’ the CID stated.