Atchannaidu Threatened ESI Directors To Swindle Funds’

AMARAVATI: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu is only busy mud-slinging against the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), with the sole objective of defaming the ruling party, said Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharita. Speaking to the media on Monday, she lashed out at Chandrababu Naidu for his ‘wild allegations’ that YSRCP had pressured Tekkali MLA Atchannaidu to join its fold. She said it is shameless for Naidu to indulge in such silly and baseless accusations.

The home minister sought to clarify that the YSRCP had never invited Atchannaidu to join the party. On the ESI scam case, she said that the state government had ordered a detailed probe as Atchannaidu had brazenly violated all norms and swindled Employees State Insurance (ESI) funds worth more than Rs 150 crores.

Sucharita claimed that Atchannaidu even threatened the ESI directors flaunting his capacity as the labour minister to misappropriate the funds. Using intimidating tactics, he did not pay heed to the advice of the directors and brazenly indulged himself in such a huge scam.

The home minister said that all the accused related to the ESI Scam were arrested only after obtaining clinching evidence that showed their involvement. She hastened to add that there are a few more high-level personalities involved in this scam and all the details of their involvement will also come to the fore during the course of investigation.

Sucharita said that even former minister and TDP senior leader JC Diwakar Reddy’s family is involved in several Irregularities during Chandrababu Naidu’s previous regime. The Home Minister said that JC Diwakar Reddy family members had cheated the transport department by creating fake documents and even risked the lives of many by operating the buses without proper licenses.