VIJAYAWADA: In the span of nine months from January 2017 to September 26, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials trapped more than 10 tainted government officials who had amassed assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. Put together, all the properties seized were worth around Rs 1,000 crore.
DTCP director Raghu and JTO Sivaprasad
ACB officials probably had not thought that this would be the biggest raid that they ever had conducted. On September 25, ACB officials raided 23 places where the duo, Director of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) Golla Venkata Raghu and his benami Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) junior technical officer (JTO) Nalluri Sivaprasad and found `500 crore-worth properties. Worked as a city planner in commercial cities like Vijayawada, Vizag and Hyderabad, the accused officer, Raghu, earned huge money by involving himself in settlements and issuing permissions to illegal constructions back in 2002, when the apartment culture emerged in Vijayawada. During the investigation, he confessed to his guilt and explained how the friendship blossomed with Sivaprasad and his family. Sivaprasad’s wife Gayathri was believed to be the mastermind on starting shell companies.
Engineer-in-chief of R&B Maley Gangadharam
The story of Engineer-in-chief of Roads & Buildings (R&B) Maley Gangadharam was no different when ACB raided his residences on April 2, 2017. Gangadharam used to take a percentage amount from allocated funds to the R&B department for various projects and that’s how he made the riches as the commission runs in crores. Maintaining close relations with higher officials and politicians, he somehow managed to amass properties worth more than `100 crore. In the investigation, ACB officials found that he purchased movable and immovable assets in AP, Telangana and Karnataka mostly in the name of his family and relatives. The accused have one posh villa in Kukatpally (Hyderabad) that costs around `4 crore and commercial properties in all the places where he worked. He joined the department as a deputy executive engineer. He is a native of Pileru in Chittoor district.
Additional Director of Industries Bayyavarapu Suresh Babu
56-year-old additional director of Department of Industries Bayyavarapu Suresh Babu leaves no stone unturned when it comes to making money. Notorious for his corruption during his tenure as an assistant director of industries in Visakhapatnam, he was on ACB suspect list and was caught red-handed on June 6, 2017. ACB officials laid a trap by investigating more than six months about him and relatives before knocking his doors. Ironically, just 10 days before the ACB officials raided his house in Hyderabad, he was moved out of the department and asked to report to the Industries and Commerce Department secretary. His properties are estimated to cross `100-crore mark.
Engineer-in-Chief of PH & ME Panduranga Rao
Not many know about this Kotcherla village (Krishna district) born Engineer-in-Chief of Public Health & Municipal Engineering department Pamu Panduranga Rao before the ACB officials raided his residence in Tadepalli on June 24. ACB officials were shell shocked to know that he had illegal assets spread across Guntur, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, West Godavari and Krishna districts. He joined service as deputy executive engineer in 1987 and built `100-crore empire of corruption. His assets include 42 plots, three houses, 50 acres of land, 1 kg of gold and 9 kg of silver.
APEWIDC Chief Engineer B Jagadeeswar Reddy
B Jagadeeswar Reddy, who is responsible for improving education, welfare and infrastructure in the state education system, was arrested by ACB officials on April 17, 2017 for amassing disproportionate assets to his known sources of income that is worth more than `100 crore.
