AP minister accused in Jagan DA case appears before CBI

CBI is likely to question Dharmana Prasada Rao on allotment of land to LKH

Former Andhra Pradesh minister Dharmana Prasada Rao, an accused in the quid-pro-quo deals involving YSR Congress chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, today appeared before the CBI in connection with the Lepakshi Knowledge Hub (LKH) land allotment.

After being served a notice by the CBI, the ex-minister for roads and buildings appeared before the probe agency here.

The CBI is likely to question him on allotment of land to LKH as it is alleged that there was quid-pro-quo in the land allotment to the Lepakshi Knowledge Hub.

Andhra Pradesh government had last year cancelled 8,848 acres of land allotted to LKH, which had proposed to set up a multi-sector industrial park project in Anantapur.

The Indu group, promoter of the project, a Hyderabad-based real estate player, is already under the CBI scanner for its alleged investments into Jagan's firms.

In February 2009, LKH had signed an MoU with the industries department for setting up a global knowledge hub by providing integrated infrastructure support to a range of activities, including education clusters, science and technology parks, medical, aviation and aerospace and IT parks.

Dharmana, who had been questioned twice by CBI, was named as the accused number 5 in the VANPIC aspect of the Jagan assets case in the charge sheet filed before a trial court by CBI on August 14 last year.

He was the revenue minister in the YSR regime between 2004-2009, including the period when the VANPIC project was conceived.

It was alleged that as the minister in 2008-09, 'Dharmana played a key role in fixing low market price for VANPIC land and acted more in connivance with another accused Nimmagadda Prasad,' the CBI had said in the charge sheet.

The case relates to alleged investments made by industrialists and individual investors in Jagan's firms when his father, the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, by way of quid-pro-quo for government favour.