VISAKHAPATNAM: More skeletons tumbled out of the closet in the disproportionate assets case of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) additional chief urban planner Pasuparthi Pradeep Kumar as the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths seized 905 gram of gold stashed in a bank locker in Chennai on Monday.The personnel of the Central InvestigationUnit (CIU) of ACB, Vijayawada opened a bank locker belonging to Pradeep Kumar’s brother-in-law in T Nagar of Chennai and recovered the gold worth around Rs 22 lakh.
Pradeep Kumar was arrested after the ACB sleuths conducted simultaneous raids on the properties of Pradeep Kumar and his relatives at 12 places across the State and in Hyderabad on January 29. The sleuths recovered disproportionate assets worth around `50 crore (market value). The officer is now lodged Vizag Central Prison after the ACB special court remanded him until February 13.
The ACB sleuths on Monday opened the bank locker belonging to the husband of Pradeep Kumar’s sister, said to be one of his benami, and found the photocopies of many property documents, apart from the gold,a press note quoted ACB Vijayawada DSP S Prasad as saying on Monday. Probe into the case has revealed that Pradeep Kumar, a native of Chakarla of Pathikonda mandal in Kurnool,joined the service in 1984 as a town planner in Gunthakal of Anantapur. He was accepting heavy kickbacks from private parties to approve building plans. During his tenure as the deputy city planner of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) between 2015 and 2016, he had allegedly acquired many land assets in Amaravati.
Crime chart
VUDA addl chief urban planner P Pradeep Kumar was arrested after the seizure of illegal properties worth H50 cr on Jan 29
ACB sleuths conducted simultaneous raids on his properties in 12 places across Andhra Pradesh and in Hyderabad
He is lodged in Vizag Central Prison after ACB court remanded him until February 13