Inner Ring Road Scam: AP CID likely to send notice to Lokesh, seek HC orders

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh CID on Friday informed the AP High Court that it will issue a notice under Section 41 of the CrPC to former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road (IRR) scam case to join the investigation.

The AP HC was hearing a petition filed by Lokesh seeking anticipatory bail in the IRR alignment case. Upon hearing the arguments for the bail plea, the High Court postponed the anticipatory bail hearing for Lokesh to Wednesday.

The court directed the AP CID not to make any arrests until October 4. The CID informed the court that it would follow the procedure under Section 41 of the CrPC, entailing the issuance of notices to Lokesh and directing the TDP general secretary to join the investigation.

Recently, the CID filed a memo in a court here naming Lokesh as accused number 14 (A14) in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road scam case.

The Inner Ring Road case pertains to manipulating the master plan of Amaravati capital city, alignment of the inner ring road and the seed capital to allegedly offer undue enrichment to several companies during Naidu’s regime.

According to TDP sources, Lokesh is currently camping in Delhi, holding discussions with legal experts to obtain relief for his father who is in judicial remand in the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison for his alleged role in the Skill Development Corporation Scam case.

Chandrababu Naidu, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh was arrested on September 9, for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation, which resulted in a purported loss of over Rs 300 crores to the state exchequer.

Chandrababu Naidu, former Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development Ponguru Narayana, Lingamaneni Ramesh, Lingamaneni Venkata Surya Rajasekhar of Lingamaneni group of companies, KPV Anjani Kumar of RK Housing Ltd, Nara Lokesh, M/s Heritage Foods Pvt Ltd and others are the accused in the case.

According to the report by CID, former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, and Ponguru Narayana who were at the helm of affairs in selection of the agencies for designs and drawings of the Master plan of the Amaravathi Capital City, alignment for the Inner Ring Road (IRR) and the Seed Capital intentionally and in a calculated manner, conspired to provide undue enrichment to the Narayana group Institutions, Lingamaneni group of companies, M/s Rama Krishna Housing Pvt. Ltd, M/s Heritage Foods, etc., and at the cost of the public exchequer, and in abuse of their official position entrusted the work of making designs of IRR, Capital city area and Seed Capital to the companies which worked as per their directives.