HYDERABAD: As many as 12 tahsildars in Medchal district were transferred on Monday, a few days after Keesara tahsildar Erva Balraju Nagaraju was caught red-handed by Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials while accepting a bribe of Rs 1.10 crore. Medchal District Collector Dr. Sri Vasam Venkateswarlu swung into action and passed the order for the transfers. The development assumes significance in the wake of growing allegations of corruption by Tahsildars in the Medchal district.
In place of Nagaraju, Quthbullapur Tahsildar Y Gouri Vatsala was posted, thus relieving K Goutham Kumar from the additional charge. The transfer order states that the transfers were carried out in view of the exigency in the protection of valuable government lands, ongoing court cases, and vacancies present in the district. On August 14, Keesara tahsildar Nagaraju had demanded and accepted a bribe of `1.10 crore from Chowla Srinath, a developer, to settle a land issue pertaining to 28 acres of agricultural land located in Keesara mandal.
Court grants 3-day police custody of Nagaraju
A special court trying ACB (Anti Corruption Bureau) cases, on Monday, granted three-day police custody of Erva Balaraju Nagaraju in connection with the bribery case. Following the order, ACB officials will take into custody the four accused for questioning on Tuesday till August 27. The accused include Nagaraju, VRO B Sairaj, businessman Chowla Srinath Yadav and middleman Kandadi Anji Reddy. The ACB hopes to extract more information about other land transactions he may have facilitated.