Andhra govt forms SIT to probe decisions taken by TDP regime

The 10-member SIT, headed by State intelligence chief Kolli Raghuram Reddy, comprises senior senior police officers Babujee Attada, Ch Venkata Appala Naidu, Srinivas Reddy, Jayarama Raju, Vijaya Bhaskar, M Giridhar, Kennedy, I Srinivasan and S V Rajashekar Reddy.

The YSR Congress party government in Andhra Pradesh headed by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into all the decisions taken by the previous Telugu Desam Party government post-bifurcation of combined Andhra Pradesh in June 2014.

A government order to this effect (GO Rt No. 344) was issued late on Friday night. The SIT would investigate into the alleged irregularities in various decisions taken by the TDP government as were detected during a preliminary study made by a cabinet sub-committee headed by finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy.

The 10-member SIT, headed by State intelligence chief Kolli Raghuram Reddy, comprises senior senior police officers Babujee Attada, Ch Venkata Appala Naidu, Srinivas Reddy, Jayarama Raju, Vijaya Bhaskar, M Giridhar, Kennedy, I Srinivasan and S V Rajashekar Reddy.

The order said the Cabinet sub-committee, in its first part of the report submitted to the government, found various procedural, legal and financial irregularities and fraudulent transactions concerned with various projects, including the issues related to land in Amaravati capital region.

The SIT would now make a thorough investigation into all major policies, projects, programmes, institutions established (including corporations, societies, companies, etc), and key administrative actions taken since bifurcation of combined Andhra Pradesh, impacting the state’s development.

The SIT would inquire, register, investigate and conclude the investigation according to the provisions of CrPC, on the subject matter. It would function as a nodal single point contact, including for sharing of information and coordinating if necessary, with the state and central investigating agencies.

The SIT would have powers to call for any person or officer in connection with the inquiry and investigation and to record his or her statement as per the provisions of CrPC. It can also call for and examine any record pertaining to the issues/land transactions in various aspects, the GO said.

An official from the chief minister’s office said the SIT would also focus on insider trading of land indulged in by several individuals having prior knowledge of location of the new capital, manipulations of boundaries of capital under Land Pooling Scheme for monetary gains through appreciation of land value and systematic inclusion of areas belonging to TDP leaders and ruling party leaders and supporters into the new capital zone.