BCCI chief N. Srinivasan appears before CBI in Jagan case

Hyderabad: Indian cricket board chief N. Srinivasan, who is also the India Cements managing director, Monday appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) 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 agency sources said.

Srinivasan was issued notice early this month asking him to appear before the CBI to explain the quid pro quo investments his company made into the firms of Jagan, as he 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 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.

Jagan, industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad, and bureaucrat K.V. Brahmananda Reddy are currently in jail in the case of Jagan amassing illegal wealth. (IANS)