HYDERABAD: Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths from Hyderabad on Monday conducted searches in Vijayawada regarding the
ESI scam
involving former minister
Kinjarapu Atchannaidu
and in connection with the
Amaravati
land scam.
ED officials visited Vijayawada and met investigating officials of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), special investigation team and Crime Investigation Department of Andhra Pradesh police.
Sources in ED told TOI that the teams are in Vijayawada to collect information and documents about three cases ESI scam, Amaravati land scam and
Agrigold scam. “We already have a case of Agrigold where lakhs of investors were duped. Our teams collected more information regarding the case. ESI scam is the fresh case. After verifying the documents like FIR, we will register a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act,” said an ED official said.
The ACB had recently arrested Atchannaidu and others in the ESI purchases scam. ACB investigations revealed around Rs 150 crore had been swindled in the purchases worth Rs 988 crore between 2014 and 2019. Two former directors of ESI Ramesh Kumar and Vijay Kumar were also arrested in connection with the scam pertaining to purchase of medical kits, furniture and medicines.
The accused had also produced fake bills and invoices to defraud the exchequer. It is alleged that the accused committed the offence on behest of then minister Atchannaidu.
Sudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times...
Read MoreSudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times of India, Hyderabad. Following the trail of migration and drought across the rustic landscape of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Sudhakar reported extensively on government apathy, divisive politics, systemic gender discrimination, agrarian crisis and the will to survive great odds. His curiosity for peeking behind the curtain triumphed over the criminal agenda of many scamsters in the highest political and corporate circles, making way for breaking stories such as Panama Papers Scam, Telgi Stamp Paper Scam, and many others. His versatility in reporting extended to red corridors of left-wing extremism where the lives of security forces and the locals in Maoist-affected areas were key points of investigation. His knack for detail provided crucial evidence of involvement from overseas in terrorist bombings in Hyderabad.
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