GUNTUR/VIJAYAWADA: Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials on Thursday questioned former minister and TDP MLA K Atchannaidu, who was arrested in the multi-crore ESI scam, in the Government General Hospital (GGH), Guntur, where he is undergoing treatment. ACB DSP Prasad and other officers met Guntur GGH superintendent Dr K Sudhakar and sought permission to question Atchannaidu in the ESI scam in the hospital as per the directions of the ACB court.
The court allowed police custody of the MLA for three days and asked the investigation agency to question him in the hospital in the presence of Atchannaidu’s advocates and doctors. The first day of questioning went on for two hours after which the ACB team left. ACB officials said the health condition of the MLA is stable and he cooperated with them. Atchannaidu gave answers to all the questions posed by the investigators. Officials said they will question Atchannaidu for the next two days. ACB officials, however, dismissed the reports that they tried to shift the MLA to other place and said they will continue inquiry in GGH only.
Earlier, high drama prevailed at the Guntur GGH in the morning with TDP leaders rushing there claiming that the MLA was being discharged by the hospital authorities. Alleging conspiracy behind the discharge of the MLA, they said the government is trying to eliminate Atchannaidu to suppress Opposition in the State. Meanwhile, alleging that the government is hatching a conspiracy against Atchannaidu’s life, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu claimed that the YSRC government was endangering the life of the former minister by meting out inhuman treatment since his arrest.