ED attaches Rs 130-cr assets of Indu Projects' promoter

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached five properties valued at Rs 129.51 crore of companies belonging to Indu Projects Limited’s managing director, I Shyam Prasad Reddy, for his alleged quid-pro-quo investments in the group companies of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, leader of the Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and president of YSR Congress Party.

The ED had attached 8648.81 acres of land, valued at Rs 113.65 crore, in Chilamathur and Gorantla mandals of Anantapur district. The land has been registered in the name of Shyam Prasad Reddy’s  group companies – Lepakshi Knowledge Hub Private Limited, Lepakshi Integrated Textile Park Private Limited, Lepakshi Science and Technology Park Private Limited and Lepakshi Heritage Wellness Village Private Limited.

The land was allotted by Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure corporation (APIIC) for establishing a multi-sector industrial park.

The other properties attached by ED include 25 acre land in Maharashtra worth Rs 11 crore registered in the name of Asara Realty Ventures Private Limited and a built-up area of around 14,196 sft in an extent of 2.57 acre at Kukatpally in Hyderabad.

The ED’s Hyderabad zonal office joint director, KSVV Prasad, stated in a press release on Thursday that over Rs 1 crore amount receivable by Lapakshi Knowledge Hub from Greenport Agro Food Park and Zen Skillproc Private Limited had also been attached through a provisional attachment order issued on Wednesday.

ED stated that its investigation had revealed that Shyam Prasad Reddy has “laundered the proceeds of the crime through his group companies” in the form of “selling/transfer of unduly allotted lands, obtaining bank loans by pledging the part of said lands allotted by M/s APIIC Limited and utilising the funds other than designated purposes such as clearing old debts, diverting funds for activities of other group companies etc”.

Based on a charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the ED filed a money laundering case against Jagan Mohan Reddy, Shyam Prasad Reddy and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

The CBI charged that Shyam Prasad Reddy “paid bribes” to Jagan Mohan Reddy under the guise of investments in the latter’s group companies through the companies of another businessman Nimmagadda Prasad as quid-pro-quo for undue favours received by his companies from the Andhra Pradesh government when Jagan Mohan Reddy’s father, YS Rajasekhara Reddy, was the chief minister.

The CBI had filed a separate charge sheet against Nimmagadda Prasad in the case. The ED had also attached three more properties of Indu Projects, valued over Rs 53 crore, earlier.