HYDERABAD: Days after the Administrative Officer (AO) of the Vikarabad Transport department was arrested on bribery charges, surprise raids by the ACB at the accused’s house unearthed Rs 3 crore worth of illegal assets. What is more, reportedly the AO had hired two private agents, on commission, to collect mamools from vehicle owners in exchange of official favours.
A senior officer, part of the investigation, told Express that they are yet to look into the accused’s bank lockers where he may have kept gold ornaments and other valuable documents. They are expected to open these lockers for a thorough search. The investigation team also suspects that the accused officer may have invested in certain businesses or purchased benami properties as well.
On May 22, the ACB had arrested AO Praveen Kumar along with his two agents, Mahender and Aadil Khan, for accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000. The ACB officials had charged the AO under the Prevention of Corruption Act and for Disproportionate Assets (DA). Ever since the ACB had intensified the investigations into his other illegal activities as well.