VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh has been ranked ninth in the country in terms of registering corruption cases in 2020, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered 91 cases of corruption and filed chargesheets in 50 cases as per the NCRB report. The number of corruption cases is lesser than the figures in 2019, 2018 and 2017 when the State recorded 123, 151 and 199 graft cases, respectively.
The ACB filed cases against government officials across the State for accepting bribes for doing official work, amassing disproportionate properties and criminal misconduct.Of the total 91 cases, in 62 cases the government officials were caught red-handed while accepting bribes. The remaining 14 and 15 were disproportionate assets and criminal misconduct cases respectively.
The NCRB report also revealed that 438 cases (including the cases registered in previous years) are still under investigation and 881 cases are in the trial process.“This year, 12 officials were convicted and nine were acquitted with 57.1 per cent conviction rate and 97.3 case pendency percentage,” according to the NCRB report.
A senior ACB official said, “We were understaffed during the Covid-induced lockdown as many of our staff were infected with the virus. We could not conduct surprise raids and trap cases due to safety protocols.”While the State stood in the ninth position, Maharashtra topped the list with 664 cases followed by Rajasthan (363), Tamil Nadu (304), Karnataka (296) and Odisha (245). A total of 3,100 cases of corruption were filed in all the States, and Union Territories, according to the NCRB data.
