Ex-IAS officer K Lakshminarayan granted interim bail in Rs 241 Cr scam

Amaravathi: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday granted interim bail to the former director of United-Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) for misappropriation of public funds to the tune of Rs. 241 crore.

K. Lakshminarayana, who is facing a trial in the APSSDC scam, approached the High Court on 13 December seeking anticipatory bail. The court, which heard the petition, granted him interim bail for 15 days. The CID officials who raided his house two days ago had served notices to Mr. Lakshminarayana to appear for trial on 13 December.

It may be recalled that based on a complaint raised by K. Ajay Reddy, the chairman of APSSDC, the Andhra Pradesh CID conducted a search at Mr. Lakshminarayana's residence in Hyderabad and booked cases against the former IAS officer.

Meanwhile, the CID, on 12 December, registered a zero FIR against ABN Andhra Jyothi managing director Vemuri Radhakrishna under various sections of the IPC for obstructing the duties of the CID officials while conducting the searches on Friday. A copy of the FIR was sent to the magistrate court in Guntur and the case will later be transferred to the Jubilee Hills police station, Telangana, for hearing.

The CID has arrested three persons – Vikas Vinay Khanwilkar, managing director of Design Tech Company, Pune; Mukul Agarwal, managing director of Schiller, Delhi; and Suman Bose, former MD of Siemens Industry Software Private Limited – in connection with the scam. The trio was produced before the CID special magistrate court and remanded to judicial custody for 12 days. After a COVID-19 test at Machilipatnam sub-jail, they will be shifted to the Vijayawada district jail.

The CID has registered cases against 26 persons and served notices to some officials in the state skill development scam.