ED attaches Jagan’s property worth Rs 51 crore

NEW DELHI: YSR Congress president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s troubles seem to be far from over.
Months after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed four chargesheets against the son of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S R Reddy, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday attached his properties worth Rs 51 crore in connection with a money laundering case.
The properties attached belong to Jagati Publications and Janani Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, both owned by Jagan.
Similar orders have been issued against two companies, Hetero Drugs Ltd and Aurobindo Pharma Ltd, which have invested in Jagan’s firms.
The total value of attached properties, declared as proceeds of crime by the ED, is Rs 51 crore.
The development means Jagan will not be able to utilize any of these properties or their proceeds till the attachment order is in force.
According to the chargesheets, the father-son duo indulged in doling out public properties, licences, granting of projects, SEZs, mining leases, ports and real estate permission to various companies in violation of norms.
In return, these firms bought shares in different companies floated by Jagan at unsubstantiated premiums. CBI has stated this was done with a “clear understanding of quid-pro-quo”, where Jagan received illegal gratification amounting to thousands of crores.
The chargesheets were filed against Jagan, his political advisor Vijay Sai Reddy, several bureaucrats, such as K Nityanand Reddy, P Sarath Chandra Reddy, B P Acharya, Y V Lakshmi Prasad, P S Chandramouli and M Srinivas Reddy, and some companies such as Aurobindo Group, Hetero Group, Trident Life Sciences Ltd, Jagati Publications and Janani Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.
According to ED, the probe revealed that as a result of the criminal conspiracy, Hetero Drugs Ltd and Aurobindo Pharma Ltd were illegally benefited by Rs 8.60 crore each in the allotment of 75 acres of land at low rates by the Andhra Pradesh government. Trident Life Sciences Ltd also illegally benefited by Rs 4.30 crore in the allotment of 30.33 acres of land.