VIJAYAWADA: A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took exception to the AP State Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (ACB) move to trap 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defended the act of the ACB and said it was in accordance with the policy of the State government, which had recently withdrawn General Consent to the CBI barring it from operating in AP.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 corrupt 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.” 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 ` one lakh as bribe. The DSP asked Lokesh to come along with the voice record of the official demanding bribe,’’ Thakur said.
Lokesh 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.