Chandrababu Naidu writes to Amit Shah seeking justice to P Narayana

VIJAYAWADA: After the arrest of former minister P Narayana in Hyderabad by AP police in the question paper leak case, TDP supremo and Leader of the Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday night sent a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah stating that the YSRC government made the arrest with concocted evidence only to extract political revenge against the TDP leader. 

After the arrest, the Andhra Pradesh police, it appears, delayed their journey to Chittoor so as to avoid producing Narayana before court and keep him under custody at night. Earlier also, a Member of Parliament (MP) was arbitrarily arrested and subjected to custodial torture without producing him before the court, Naidu pointed out in the latter. 

“The travel time from Hyderabad to Chittoor is around 8-10 hours. However, the police didn’t reach Chittoor even at 10 pm on Tuesday.  The family members, relatives, friends and well-wishers of Narayana are worried over his safety and health,” Naidu said in the letter.

The Chittoor I Town police, responding to a complaint regarding paper leak of 10th class board exam on April 27, had registered an FIR. The addition of new sections in the FIR is enough to understand the mal-fide intention of the YSRC government to implicate Narayana, Naidu said. 

“The role of Chittoor district SP Rishanth  Reddy in distorting evidence to frame Narayana is widely suspected. In the past, there were serious allegations of bias against Rishanth Reddy. In this backdrop, I appeal to you to take immediate action against the erring police officials and ensure justice to the former minister and protect his fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution,” Naidu urged Shah.

‘Bid to cover up failures’ 

Earlier, in a statement, the TDP chief condemned the arrest of Narayana. Describing the arrest of Narayana as vindictive, Naidu said after facing criticism from all quarters over its failure in conducting the Class X exams, the government arrested Narayana to divert the attention of people. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Naidu, while recalling the statement of Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana that there was no question paper leakage, asked how could the government hold Narayana responsible for mass copying and failures in conducting examinations.

“Narayana was arrested without serving notice and conducting any inquiry. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was trying to send Narayana behind the bars by filing false cases ever since he came to power,” the TDP chief alleged. In a separate statement, TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh described the arrest as a part of the YSRC government’s endless political vendetta against the opposition leaders. The Jagan Mohan Reddy regime was resorting to cheap tactics to cover up its failures, Lokesh alleged.