Vijayawada: The AP government has decided to withdraw security provided to income-tax sleuths who have been conducting the raids across the state since the last two days.
The Cabinet took the decision n Friday after taking advice from the state law secretary on whether it was mandatory for the state government to provide security to I-T officials. Ministers had termed Friday’s extensive raids as politically motivated and proposed to withdraw the police cover.
The Cabinet also condemned such the largescale raids involving about 200 officers, terming them as unprecedented. The Cabinet also decided to face the Centre at all levels even to approach appropriate courts.
A heated discussion said to have been taken place during the Cabinet meeting regarding the I-T raids. Some ministers opined that such raids have to be seen as attacks on the state. A few others said that such raids would only deter investors from coming to AP at a time when the state had topped Ease of Doing Business (EODB) ranking two years in a row.
Chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is said to have vehemently condemned the I-T raids and said that Centre had been working in an vindictive manner towards the state. The ministers felt that the I-T raids were politically motivated.
“The Centre is trying to create a panic situation in Andhra Pradesh. It is a conspiracy to see to that investors do not move freely in the state. We are considering these I-T raids as an attack on Andhra Pradesh,” housing minister Kalva Srinivasulu told the media after the Cabinet briefing.
