TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu enters Rajamahendravaram central prison

Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu reached the Central Prison in the early hours of Monday, 11 September, after a court in Vijayawada sent him to judicial custody for 14 days in a multi-crore corruption case, officials said. He reached the jail after a nearly 200 km journey from Vijayawada to Rajamahendravaram in the East Godavari district.

"Chandrababu Naidu went in the prison around 1:20 a.m.," East Godavari district Superintendent of Police P Jagadish told PTI.

Home-cooked food, medication and a special room were among the amenities granted by the court to Naidu during his judicial custody. The 73-year-old former chief minister has been provided with a separate accommodation inside the jail in view of the purported threat to his life. He is a Z-plus category security protectee.

Naidu's son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh trailed his father to the prison gates and waited outside for some time before leaving.

According to the detention order, the judge highlighted that there are grounds to believe the accusations levelled against Naidu, and 24 hours were not enough to complete the investigation.

Naidu was arrested in the Skill Development Corporation scam case following a pre-dawn operation on Saturday, 9 September at Nandyala, which involved officers knocking on the door of the caravan in which he was sleeping. He was arrested by the CID around 6 am on 9 September from a marriage hall outside which his caravan was parked.