Thousands of Telugu Desam Party workers on Monday took to streets in protest against the arrest of their party chief and former state chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in a corruption case. The TDP has called a statewide bandh demanding the release of its leader. The former Andhra Pradesh CM was arrested from Nandyal district on September 9 in connection with the alleged Skill Development Corporation scam.

Following his arrest, an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court in Vijayawada sent Naidu to14-day judicial custody till September 23. His party TDP has said that it will challenge the arrest in the High Court and seek bail. Naidu has been lodged in Rajahmundry Central jail.

The former Andhra CM and now prisoner number 7691 has been allotted an upper block in Sneha Wing of the jail. His son Nara Lokesh and other party leaders also reached the central jail to meet him.

Meanwhile, heavy security arrangements have been made in view of the Bandh and section 144 has been imposed in a number sensitive areas. The police have also detained several TDP workers who raised slogans against the Jagan Mohan Reddy government and demanded his release.

#WATCH | Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh: TDP workers hold protest against the arrest and judicial custody of former Andhra Pradesh CM and TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu.

Former CM N Chandrababu Naidu was sent to judicial custody till September 23 in a corruption case yesterday. pic.twitter.com/IHOILhp2g3

— ANI (@ANI) September 11, 2023

Before being taken into custody, Naidu told reporters that he didn’t commit any corruption and the Corruption Investigation Department officers arrest him without any evidence. The TDP has alleged political vendetta behind his arrest.

“I did not commit any malpractice or corruption. CID arrested me without any proper information and I asked them to show the evidence but they refused to show and attached my name to the FIR without my role,” Naidu said.

The case in which Naidu was arrested pertains to the establishment of clusters of Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a total estimated project value of Rs 3300 crore. According to CID sources, serious irregularities were found during an investigation and most of the money advanced by the government was diverted to shell companies through fake invoices, with no actual delivery or sale of the items mentioned in the invoices.

In its remand report, the CID has said that according to the investigation so far, the total amount spent by private entities on six skill development clusters is sourced exclusively from funds advanced by the Government of AP and AP Skill Development Center, totalling Rs 371 crores.