Amaravati land case: TDP releases videos of farmers refuting YSRCP govt's claims

The Telugu Desam Party has on Thursday released few videos of Amaravati farmers stating that they never actually complained about their lands being taken away forcibly or deceitfully in 2015.

The TDP is claiming the videos are proof enough that the Jaganmohan Reddy government was misusing the state police to target former CM Chandrababu Naidu with a false case.

The Opposition party's assertion comes about a fortnight after the Andhra Pradesh CID booked former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and his colleague municipal administration and urban development minister P Narayana charging them of involvement in the alleged Amaravati land scam case.

Also read — Amaravati land case: HC stays probe against Chandrababu Naidu

The Andhra Pradesh High Court last Friday provided a four-week reprieve to the two from the CID probe. Naidu and Narayana had moved the court challenging the FIRs against them.

The CID's March 12 case was based on a complaint by ruling YSRCP MLA Alla Rama Krishna Reddy alleging that SC/ST-assigned lands in the Amaravati capital region were procured deceitfully by persons close to the then TDP government.

Mangalagiri MLA Alla has charged that government orders were modified later, causing “irreparable loss to the weaker sections.”

Naidu is made the prime accused under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989, AP Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act 1977 and various IPC sections.

Also read — Amaravati land case: Former CM Chandrababu Naidu challenges CID FIR on him in Andhra High Court

“The CID officials betrayed the farmers by taking their signatures for confirmation whether they sold their assignment lands voluntarily or not. But then these unsuspecting locals were shown as complainants to book false cases against Chandrababu Naidu,” TDP leader Dhulipalla Narendra told reporters on Thursday.

“This is an atrocious conspiracy to defame the former CM and to crush the Amaravati capital project,” the former MLA said, while releasing the videos of “sting operation on the Amaravati residents shown by the CID as complainants.”

Dhulipalla said that the contentious Government Order 41 pertaining to the assignment lands was issued based on a proposal from the then Guntur collector Kantilal Dande and the higher-up official's approval. “Naidu and Narayana merely ratified the proposal in their capacity as the then CM and minister, respectively.”