Industrialist and media baron Matrix Prasad alias Nimmagadda Prasad has been taken into custody by CBI in Jagan assets case. Prasad, who is accused number 12 in the case against Jagan, has been charged under Sections 120 B, IPC 420, 409 and 477 A.
The CBI has been interrogating the Maa TV group chairman for the last two days over Vanpic project for which he was allotted 15,000 acres by the then Rajasekhara Reddy government in Guntur and Prakasam districts.
Prasad has been in the dock since CBI started inquiring into his investments to the tune of Rs 504 crore in various companies owned by Jagan, including Jagathi Publications of which he is said to be one of the directors.
The arrest of Nimmagadda Prasad, who is a leading industrialist in the state, is a clear indication of the serious intent of CBI in doggedly pursuing the case against Jagan.
APNEWSLIVE carried a story as far back as in January last of the likelihood of Nimmagadda Prasad’s arrest in Jagan’s case.
The suave industrialist’s investments in Jagan’s companies include Rs 244 cr in Bharathi Cements,140 cr in Sandur Power,Rs 13 cr in Janani Infra, Rs 28 cr in Silicon Builders and Rs 20 cr in Carmel Asia.
The soft-spoken Prasad enjoys good relations with almost all political parties despite his business partnership with Jagan. In fact, no political party including TDP picked Prasad’s name in Jagan’s case because of his rapport with all parties across the spectrum.
But with the ruling Congress in Delhi bent on taking Jagan’s case to its logical end, Prasad seems to have been forced to bite the bullet.
Prasad had humble beginnings having obtained his B.Sc. degree from Babu Jagjivanram College in Hyderabad and then his M.Sc from the University of Delhi, followed by a post graduate diploma in management from Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad
Prasad started his career as a management trainee in Indian Molasses Company in Delhi (an associate of United Molasses Company, UK) in 1984 and was promoted to salesman at Rhone Poulenc Chemicals and then to Vorin Laboratories as general manager of marketing in 1993, was elevated to managing director in 1995.
When Indian pharma market leader Ranbaxy Ltd acquired Vorin, Prasad was re-designated senior managing director and chief executive officer.
His entrepreneurial plunge in 200 when he acquired the sick pharma company Herren Drugs and Pharmaceuticals and renamed it Matrix Laboratories. From then on, it was no going back for Prasad, who went to diversify into various businesses as an investor.
Currently, he is chairman of Vanpic (Vadaravu and Nizampatnam Port & Industrial Corridor) Project and Chairman of MAA TV. He is serving as a Board Member of CARE Hospitals, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Sakshi Newspaper and TV Network and Bharati Cements. Prasad is also on the Executive Board of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad.
