VISAKHAPATNAM: Tainted AP Town and Country Planning director Golla Venkata Raghu from whom the Anti-Corruption Bureau unearthed disproportionate assets worth more than `500 crore amassed the wealth by demanding heavy kickbacks from contractors and realtors in return for granting permission for their projects, ACB sources have said. Venkata Raghu, who was arrested on Monday after the seizure of his assets during simultaneous raids conducted in as many as 23 places across the state, was produced before the ACB Special Court in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. The court remanded him in 14 days’ judicial custody.
ACB sleuths said Venkata Raghu had resorted to demanding illegal gratification from contractors and realtors since his stint as the Town Planning Chief in the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) between 2004 and 2009.In 2005, the role of the Town Planning Chief was a crucial post as Visakhapatnam had started witnessing a realty boom and apartment culture was thriving.
Venkata Raghu misused his official position by allegedly collecting bribes for giving clearance to apartment projects. “Raghu used to seek a flat from builders and realtors as bribe for giving approval to each venture. He would register the flat in the name of his benamis and family members initially and later sell out the apartments for huge sums,” said sources privy to the investigation.
A 3,200-sft flat at the Beach Road, a posh locality in Visakhapatnam, is one among the many apartments he got as bribe. Now, the flat costs around `80.26 lakh. The tainted officer was renting out the flat for `50,000 per month. The official also used to collect `5 lakh to `10 lakh for sanctioning the building plans, an ACB officer revealed.Sources said Venkata Raghu was running a network of several low-rung officers and contractors through whom he used to collect mamools from realtors. One among his close aides, Govinda Raju, a private surveyor from Assilmetta here, has been on the run since the last one week and his wife left the house on Monday. His residence has been raided.