Even as the probe into the politically explosive cash-for-vote scam continues, the name of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu figures in the chargesheet filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in a special court here.
While the chargesheet includes the names of Telugu Desam Party MlA A Revanth Reddy, his two associates Harry Sebastian, TDP Christian Cell president Uday Simha and Jerusalem Muttaiah as accused, name of Chandrababu is also mentioned 22 times in the context of his alleged phone conversation with the nominated MlA Elvis Sebastian.
The scam relates to the alleged attempt by the Telugu Desam Party leaders to pay a bribe of Rs5 crore to a nominated member of Telangana Assembly Elvis Stephenson to secure his vote for the TDP candidate in the State council elections. It was busted when TDP MlA A Revanth Reddy was nabbed along with two associated and cash of Rs50 lakh was recovered from him.
The chargesheet which was filed in the court earlier but came to light now does not name Naidu directly as an accused but numerous references to him suggest that ACB may name him in a subsequent chargesheet. The chargesheet seeks to make a strong case that the other accused were in fact acting at the behest of Naidu.
ACB also said that the oral and documentary evidence collected by the agency establish that three accused belonged to the Telugu Desam Party.
The chargesheet, which has named 39 witnesses, also includes the entire transcript of Naidu’s conversation with Elvis Stephenson. Naidu is heared assuring Stephenson that all his demands will be met.
Meanwhile, in the continuing investigation, the ACB on Tuesday questioned DK Srinivasulu Naidu, son of former TDP MP DK Aadikesavulu Naidu.
Along with Srinivasulu, his employee Vishnu Chaitanya also appeared before the ACB for questioning. The ACB had issued notices to both of them on Monday asking them to appear on Tuesday. According to the ACB sources they were summoned as they had the knowledge about the cash for vote scam. Srinivasulu’s mother Satyaprabha is the TDP MlA in Andhra Pradesh. He is managing director of Karnataka Beverages and Distilleries Corporation.