Hyderabad, June 18 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Monday questioned Indian cricket board chief N. Srinivasan, who is also India Cements managing director, for seven hours here in YSR Congress Party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy's illegal wealth case.
The CBI officials questioned Srinivasan, who is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, at the Dilkusha Guest House, the camp office of the central investigating agency, agency sources said.
It was immediately not clear if the CBI had completed questioning him or had called him again to appear before it.
Srinivasan was questioned about the quid pro quo investments his company made into the firms of Jagan, as he is popularly called. He was issued notice early this month asking him to appear before the CBI.
India Cements allegedly invested Rs.135 crore into Jagan's businesses in return for the benefits it received from the then government of Jagan's father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who was killed in a helicopter crash in 2009.
The investments were made into Bharati Cements and Jagati Publications owned by Jagan in return for the benefits India Cements received in the form of additional water allocation for its units in Andhra Pradesh.
The CBI believes the then government issued two orders allocating additional water from Krishna and Kagna rivers to two plants of Srinivasan's India Cements.
The water allocation for India Cements' Nalgonda plant was enhanced from three lakh gallons to 10 lakh gallons per day while the supply was raised from three lakh gallons to 13 lakh gallons per day for its plant in Ranga Reddy district. The orders reportedly helped the company to double its production in the state.
Srinivasan was issued notice after the CBI questioned Andhra Pradesh Information Technology Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah June 7 about the orders he issued, as the then irrigation minister, allocating water to India Cements and other companies.
Besides India Cements, the CBI is also conducting investigations into the investments made by Penna Cements and Dalmia Cements. They pumped money into Jagan's firms allegedly in return for the limestone mines allotted to them.
Jagan, industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad, and bureaucrat K.V. Brahmananda Reddy are currently in jail in the case.
