Andhra HC grants anticipatory bail to retired IAS officer

Amaravati, Dec 13: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday granted interim anticipatory bail to retired IAS officer K. Lakshminarayana in a case relating to alleged irregularities that took place in the AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) during the previous TDP regime.

The former director of APSSDC had approached the high court for anticipatory bail. The court granted him the same for 15 days.

The CID, probing the alleged irregularities, had searched the house of Lakshminrayana in Hyderabad on Friday.

The former bureaucrat, who was a key official in the TDP government headed by Chandrababu Naidu, fainted during the CID searches and was admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad.

The CID had also served a notice on Lakshminarayana directing him to appear before it at its headquarters in Mangalagiri for further inquiry on Monday.

The CID is probing misappropriation of Rs 242 crore in executing one of the projects. The agency filed an FIR against the retired IAS officer and 25 others including former Special Secretary, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Department, and the then ex-officio Secretary to Chief Minister and MD and CEO of APSSDC, Ghanta Subba Rao.

They were accused of alleged diversion of Rs 242 crore by Designtech and Siemens Projects through various shell companies.

The APSSDC claimed that it had procured software worth Rs 242 crore from Designtech Systems but the probe revealed that no such software was provided to it.

On a complaint by APSSDC's current Chairman K. Ajay Reddy, the CID started a probe in July and registered a case on December 9 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act.

Meanwhile, the CID on Monday registered a case against Vemuri Radhakrishna, managing director of Telugu newspaper 'Andhrajyothi' and news channel ABN-Andhrajyothi.

A zero FIR was registered at CID police station in Mangalagiri on a complaint by a CID official that Radhakrishna, along with some others, had reached Lakshminarayana's house in Hyderabad on December 10 when the searches were being conducted and they tried to obstruct them from discharging their official duties.

The FIR has named Radhakrishna, a lawyer, a reporter and a videographer.