CM orders Lanco probe

The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, has ordered an inquiry into the insurance scam involving Lanco Infratech. The Chief Minister was also unhappy over the delay in construction of the Rs 308-crore campus of the Indian Institute of Information Technology at Basar, which is being handled by Lanco Infratech. He asked officials to warn Lanco Infratech of severe action if the project is not completed in another two months.

Sources told this correspondent that the Chief Minister gave directions in this regard to Prof. K.C. Reddy, chairman of the AP State Council of Higher Education and in-charge vice-chancellor of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies. The three IIITs at Basar, Nuziveedu and Idupulapaya are run under the aegis of the university. The AP Health, Medical Housing and Infrastructure Develop-ment Corporation is the executing agency for the construction of the campus at Basar.

The APHMHIDC has also issued a memo to Lanco Infratech seeking an explanation on the insurance scam. Referring to The New India Assurance Company denying having issued any insurance policy for a premium of Rs 1.89 crore as claimed by Lanco Infratech, the corporation managing director Mr M Ravichandra sought to know whether the policy submitted by the company was original.

This newspaper had reported on August 25 that Lanco Infratech had submitted an insurance policy (610200/44/08/03/6000 0027) purportedly from New India Assurance to the APHMHIDC and had secured reimbursement for Rs 1.89 crore.

The New India Assurance Company later wrote to the APHMHIDC stating that it never issued a policy bearing that number.
Ironically, Lanco Infra had “refunded” Rs 1.5 lakh on the fake policy to the government.