VIJAYAWADA: Sleuths of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) carried out a surprise inspection at seven sub-registrar offices (SRO) and two Tahsildar offices in nine districts across the State on Wednesday. During the raids, officials reportedly found unaccounted cash. They also identified officials, including office staff, indulging in various irregularities like delaying issuing of passbooks, disposal of online petitions, and allowing unauthorised persons in the office among others.
According to an official release from ACB director general (DG) Kasireddy Rajendranath Reddy, the searches were conducted based on complaints received from the public through the toll-free number 14400. Inspections were carried out at SROs in Badvel, Tirupati rural, Anantapur rural, Jagadamba, Tuni, Narsapuram and Kandukur, and at two Tahsildar offices in Medikonduru of Guntur district and Jalumuru of Srikakulam district.
In Kadapa, a team of ACB officials, led by a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) rank officer, raided Badvel SRO and reportedly seized Rs 5 lakh unaccounted cash from the employees.Further, they said a probe is underway to ascertain the source of the cash seized from the office.
“ACB had received many complaints from the public on officials in Badvel SRO collecting extra money for documentation and registrations. A detailed investigation will be conducted to find the source of the unaccounted cash. The role of three persons caught doing office work in the SRO will also be probed,” the sleuths explained.
The ACB officials collected details of pending applications from two tahsildar offices. Meanwhile, the ACB DG requested the public to lodge complaints about bribery on toll-free number 14400 and assured them that their identity would not be disclosed. “The State government has zero tolerance for corruption.
Similar raids in Badvel in 2020
The ACB sleuths had conducted similar searches at Badvel SRO in 2020 and had seized unaccounted cash to the tune of `1.4 lakh from office staff. They had observed that sub-registrar offices had appointed unauthorised persons to do official work. Similar was the case in Anantapur rural, Tirupati rural, Jagadamba, Tuni, Narsapuram and Kandukur SROs