HYDERABAD: Former Keesara tahsildar, Erva Balaraju Nagaraju, who was lodged in Chanchalguda Central Prison in judicial remand, was found hanging from a ventilator inside his jail cell early on Wednesday.
Police officials say the tainted officer used his towel to do so. Jail officials shifted Nagaraju to the dispensary where doctors declared him brought dead.
Nagaraju was being investigated by the ACB after he was caught red-handed receiving a bribe of Rs 1.10 crore to settle a land dispute in Rampally Dayara village of Keesara mandal. He was arrested on August 14. Jail officials reported that Nagaraju had a light dinner on Tuesday night. He did not interact with the other inmates or talk to jail staff yesterday. He often used to walk inside the jail in the morning and evenings. Based on the complaint, police registered a case of suspicious death under Sec 174 CrPC.
Nagaraju was prime accused
The tahsildar had demanded Rs 5 crore bribe in return for issuing pattadar passbooks for 29 acres of land located at Rampally Dayara village.
When the accused officer was accepting Rs 1.10 crore bribe as an initial amount at a middleman’s residence in AS Rao Nagar, ACB officials caught him red-handed.
Two real estate businessmen — Chowla Srinath Yadav and K Anji Reddy — were also arrested along with
In view of the former tahsildar’s suicide, heavy security forces were posted at the ACB headquarters located at Banjara Hills to prevent any violent protests by family members and revenue officials.