VIJAYAWADA: A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took exception to the AP State Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (ACB) trapping of a Central government employee in a corruption case, the anti-corruption watchdog said it would not be silent on complaints against officials, whether they belonged to State or Central government, and asserted that it was the ACB which received the complaint against CBIT official first.
Echoing a similar sentiment, the State Home department principal secretary, whose office was also dragged into the controversy, said that ACB was the only agency that dealt with corruption cases in the State and reiterated the government stand that the CBI itself shared information about the complainant in the case and requested swift action.
With the trapping of superintendent of Central GST Range Office, Machilipatnam, Mukku Kali Ramaneswar, on Friday becoming controversial, ACB Director General (DG) RP Thakur and Principal Secretary, Home, AR Anuradha, separately, defended the act of the ACB and said it was in accordance with the policy of the State government, which had recently withdrawn General Consent to the CBI barring it from operating in AP.
Speaking to reporters, ACB DG Thakur said, “We won’t sit and watch if there are complaints of corruption against officials and all public servants in the State, whether they belong to State or Central government, fall under the jurisdiction of ACB.” “How can an anti-corruption agency sit silent when it receives complaints of graft against State or Central officials,” he said.
He asserted that the crackdown on the officials indulging in corruption would continue.
Thakur wondered as to why the CBI issued a release blaming the State anti-corruption agency for reacting to a complaint lodged against a corrupt officer. He maintained that the complainant, K Lokesh Babu, approached the ACB well before knocking the doors of the CBI.
“The DSP, ACB received two missed calls from the complainant on November 22. Later, the DSP returned the call around 7.15 pm the same day to the complainant, who requested for action against Ramaneswar for demanding `1 lakh as bribe. The DSP asked Lokesh to come along with the voice record of the official demanding bribe on November 26,’’ Thakur said.
Lokesh, a steel and cement trader, met the DSP personally at the latter’s office along with the voice record (recorded on November 23). “The DSP, however, was busy preparing to lay a trap for an assistant engineer (AE) of the housing department of Mandavalli in Krishna district and asked Lokesh Babu to come after two days,’’ Thakur said.
However, the same day, Lokesh approached the CBI - Visakhapatnam over phone and the agency officials met him in Machilipatnam on November 27 and got a written complaint the next day. “The CBI SP later approached the State Home secretary for specific consent to trap the official. The Home secretary shared the information with the ACB DG and as the ACB already had information about the case, the officials, in the interest of clean administration, the legal formalities and relevant process were immediately initiated,’’ Thakur said.
Maintaining that the CBI was aware of the ACB action, Thakur said that on November 29 when the ACB Additional Superintendent of Police contacted Lokesh over phone, the latter informed the official that the CBI team was with him at Machilipatnam.” At that time, the CBI officials questioned Lokesh as to why he was talking to the ACB. To this, he replied that he already approached the ACB earlier,’’ Thakur said.
Thakur said they did not have any information about the CBI seeking permission from the State Home department. “Since the ACB received the complaint first, we acted on it and arrested the official. What’s wrong in it,” Thakur sought to know.Reacting to CBI’s allegation that the ACB, in its press release, gave the impression that the complainant had directly approached the State agency, Thakur said the ACB would never mention in its press release the name of the informant and source of information.
Asked about the number of complaints received against Central government employees, Thakur said, “We received a considerable number of complaints and those need to be verified. If necessary, we will contact the department concerned and abide by the standard procedure designed for ACB.”
Thakur also recalled past meetings with the CBI on curbing corruption in the State and said ACB would extend its support to any agency, including CBI, in taking action against corruption. “ACB is ready to share information and cooperate with all agencies to curb corruption,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Principal Secretary, Home, AR Anuradha, in a release, said in response to the CBI’s request seeking consent for trap case, the SP CBI was clearly briefed that in line with the current policy of the AP government, to take action in corruption cases through ACB, the trap could be done by a joint team. “The SP -CBI, was not willing for a joint operation, but in the interest of swift action against the accused, expressed willingness to share the information with the ACB. He shared information about the complainant including his mobile number and requested urgent action so that the opportunity for the action against a corrupt officer is not lost,” Anuradha said.
Not to be silent on graft complaints
The ACB said it would not be silent on complaints against corrupt officials, whether they belong to the State or Central government. It was the ACB which received the complaint against the CBIT official first, it added