AP govt sets up SIT to investigate irregularities by CRDA

Hyderabad: In an attempt to probe the ‘fraudulent transactions’ taken by the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) in Amaravati, the Andhra Pradesh government has constituted a ten-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) on February 21. The team, which is headed by Dr. Kolli Raghuram Reddy IPS, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Intelligence, will conduct a systematic and comprehensive investigation on the “various procedural, legal and financial irregularities and fraudulent transactions concerned with various projects, including the issues related to land in the CRDA region.”

The ten-member team consists of these police officers-Visakhapatnam SP Babujee Attada, Intelligence SP-II Ch.Venkata Appala Naidu, Kadapa Additional SP Sreenivasa Reddy, DSP( Intelligence) Jayarama Raju, DSP ( Vigilance and Enforcement) Vijaya Bhaskar, DSP ( Intelligence) M. Giridhar, Eluru Range Inspector Kennedy, Nellore District Inspector I Srinivasan, and Guntur district Inspector SV Rajasekhara Reddy, the member of the SIT.

According to the order issued by the Principal Secretary to the Ap government, Praveen Prakash, the investigation team is expected to function as a nodal single point contact, including sharing of information and coordinating with the State and Central Investigating Agencies. The team has to conduct an enquiry and proper investigation into the issue as per the provisions of CrPC.

The order further stated that the SIT would have powers to call for any person/officer in connection with the enquiry and investigation, to record his/her statement as per the provisions of CrPC. They may “call for and examine any record pertaining to the issues / land transactions in various aspects.” The Andhra Pradesh government has further directed all Departments and officers to provide the necessary assistance to the SIT for proper discharge of its functions. The order also stated that “All the consequential notifications under CrPC to enable the functioning of SIT as Police Station shall be issued by the concerned departments.”

The SIT was formed following the government’s insistence on a detailed enquiry after a Cabinet Sub-Committee was constituted to review the major policies, programmes and key administrative actions taken after the bifurcation of the state in 2014.