There's a conspiracy to arrest me: Jagan writes to PM

Even as the Andhra Pradesh high court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to defreeze the bank accounts of beleaguered Kadapa Member of Parliament Y S  Jagan Mohan Reddy, he has written a letter to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to save him from a Congress-Telugu Desam Party-CBI 'conspiracy' to nail him for alleged irregularities.

In a letter addressed to Dr Singh, Reddy, president of the YSR Congress, alleged that Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan was also involved in the conspiracy to arrest him in connection with a disproportionate assets case so as to delay the June 12 by-elections in the state.

Reddy accused the CBI of attempting to implicate him in the (disproportionate assets) case "from the beginning."

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"I sincerely request you to use your good offices and get to the bottom of the undemocratic and shameful conspiracy and prevent it," Jagan said.

The CBI has alleged that Jagan was able to build his colossal empire worth Rs 365 crore because of his father's position as Andhra Pradesh chief minister that helped him to pressure companies to invest in his firms.

Reddy, however, has refuted these charges, and alleged that the Centre has misused the CBI against him in the assets case.

He also slammed the opposition after the CBI moved to freeze accounts of his companies. He alleged that the move was an attempt to politically stifle him ahead of the by-elections in the state. He also questioned the CBI's action against his companies. Reddy quit the Congress last year after a 14-month long rebellion that began when his father died in a helicopter crash.

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The conflict began when the party's central leadership did not pick Jagan to replace his father as chief minister. Since then, he has fallen out with the Congress and formed the YSR Congress.

For the last two years, he has conducted his Odarpu Yatra, a tour that has allowed him to visit thousands of homes who said they were in mourning for his father.

The road-show has led to a mass connect that most politicians can only dream of.

Meanwhile, in a relief to Jagan, the Andhra Pradesh high court on Wednesday lifted the freeze on bank accounts of three firms-- Sakshi newspaper, TV channel and Janani Infra, owned by him.

However, the court imposed certain conditions on maintenance of accounts saying that all transactions are to be through cheques and no property should be sold until the case is completed.

On May 8, the CBI had written to different banks ordering the freezing of all accounts in the name of Jagathi Publications, which runs Sakshi newspaper, Indira TV, which operates Sakshi TV, and Janani Infra.

According to CBI, the investigating agency had frozen 11 current accounts in different banks in the city with Rs 11 crore balance, besides Rs 103 crore of fixed deposits.

Recently, the same court issued interim stay on the government order stopping all government advertisements to Sakshi paper and TV channel, terming it as contrary to the guidelines set by the government itself.

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