VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government on Saturday suspended Pendyala Srinivas, an assistant secretary-rank officer, in connection with the alleged receipt of kickbacks on behalf of former chief minister and Telugu Desam supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu from construction companies engaged in Amaravati Capital works.
The government order suspending Srinivas said he is being suspended for not responding to show-cause notices issued by the government questioning his role in allegations of kickbacks.
Pendyala Srinivas had worked as a personal assistant to Naidu when the latter was the chief minister between 2014 and 2019. He has been absconding ever since reports of the Income Tax department serving notices to Naidu came to light.
According to reports, despite being an assistant secretary in the state planning department, Srinivas has flown to America without obtaining the required permission from higher officials, which is against the service rules.
This happened after his name surfaced in the Income Tax department notices to Naidu in July. Srinivas also figured the confession statement of a senior official of Shapoorji Pallonji, the construction company, which took up several projects in Amaravati.
The AP Crime Investigation Department has alleged that Srinivas had played a key role in channelling illegal funds from construction companies to Naidu. The CID also named another person Kilaru Rajesh in the skill development scam case. But both of them have allegedly left for the US much before the department registered its FIR listing the two.
Incidentally, the IT department had searched the residence of Srinivas in Vijayawada a couple of years ago. But it did not find any cash.
