Thaindian News

Hyderabad, Jan 25 (IANS) A special court here Wednesday remanded Sunil Reddy, a relative of YSR Congress Party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, in judicial custody till Feb 1 in the Emaar township case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which arrested Sunil Reddy Tuesday night, presented him before the special court dealing with the CBI cases Wednesday.

The investigating agency also moved a petition for his custody for 15 days but his lawyer sought time to file a counter. The court adjourned the hearing to Friday.

Sunil Reddy, a businessman who is believed to be a key person in running the affairs of the companies owned by Jaganmohan Reddy — or Jagan as he is popularly called — was later shifted to Chanchalguda Central Jail.

In the remand report filed before the court, the CBI said Sunil Reddy and another accused, Koneru Prasad, together hatched a criminal conspiracy and there is a need to question him to ascertain the facts.

Prasad of Stylish Homes is already in judicial custody and the court Wednesday extended his remand till Feb 1.

The CBI told the court that Sunil Reddy received the money collected from buyers of the villas of Emaar-APIIC township. The investigating agency wants to question him with regard to the real beneficiary of the money.

Sunil Reddy allegedly transferred the money abroad and then it was routed back to India and invested in the companies owned by Jaganmohan Reddy, son of late chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

The CBI has booked Sunil Reddy for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating and falsification of accounts.

The federal agency arrested him on the basis of a statement made by Stylish Homes director T. Ranga Rao, who has turned an approver in the case.

Ranga Rao allegedly revealed that Sunil Reddy received Rs.70 crore out of Rs.138 crore siphoned in the case by cheating Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), a state government agency.

Following directions of the state high court in August last year, the CBI had booked Dubai-based real estate firm Emaar Properties and its Indian associates for cheating APIIC in the township project.

APPIC, which allotted 535 acres prime land for the project at Gachibowli in Hyderabad, had an equity of 26 percent in Emaar Hills Township Project (EHTP), floated to execute the joint venture.

However, Emaar and its Indian associates allegedly diluted the equity of APIIC to six percent, causing huge losses to the public exchequer.

Stylish Homes had acted as marketing agent of EHTP and Koneru Prasad allegedly siphoned off huge money by selling the villas and plots at much higher rates than shown on the paper.

The high court had ordered a CBI probe into the case on the petitions moved by some Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders. They alleged that the money siphoned off in the project was invested into Jagan’s companies through foreign firms.

Jagan, an MP, is also facing a CBI probe into his alleged illegal assets. The probe against him was ordered by the high court on a plea by the same petitioners.