Hyderabad, June 23 (IANS) For the second time this week, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Saturday questioned Indian cricket board chief and India Cements managing director N. Srinivasan here in YSR Congress Party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy's illegal wealth case.
The CBI officials were questioning Srinivasan, who is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, at Dilkusha Guest House, the camp office of the central investigating agency.
The questioning, which began around 11 a.m., was continuing after lunch break.
Srinivasan was earlier questioned by the CBI officials for over seven hours on June 18. He was grilled about the quid pro quo investments his company made into the firms of Jagan, as the YSR Congress leader is popularly called.
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 for its plant in Ranga Reddy district the supply was raised from three lakh gallons to 13 lakh gallons per day. The orders reportedly helped the company to double its production in the state.
The CBI earlier this month 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, former minister Mopidevi Venkatramna, industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad, and bureaucrat K.V. Brahmananda Reddy are currently in jail in the case over Jagan's illegal wealth.
