Irrigation's Former Top Engineer Arrested for Disproportionate Assets

 Hyderabad: The ACB on Monday arrested C. Muralidhar Rao, a former engineer-in-chief of the irrigation department, following the discovery of alleged disproportionate assets in raids conducted at 10 locations across Hyderabad, Karimnagar, and Zaheerabad, including his residence in Banjara Hills. They searches were still going on.

While officials were still tallying his assets, they found that Muralidhar Rao allegedly owned, among other things, a villa in Kondapur, a flat each in Kokapet and Banjara Hills, four prime residential plots in Hyderabad, 6,500 square yards of land in Mokila, among others.

In June, the ACB had arrested another senior irrigation official, Nunne Sridhar, who was part of the Kaleshwaram project, also for alleged disproportionate assets.

ACB officials stated that Muralidhar Rao was being probed for acquiring assets beyond his known sources of income during his service.

Rao allegedly acquired multiple properties, including real estate and movable assets, while serving as engineer-in-chief. During the searches, documents related to land ownership, bank lockers, gold, and other investments were seized for verification. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and other relevant sections was registered.

This raid came a month after raids were conducted on Kaleshwaram Project engineer Nunne Sridhar. He too was accused of amassing disproportionate assets during his tenure. He was taken into custody and questioned regarding the bank lockers and other properties.

The raids on Muralidhar Rao began at 9 am and continued till evening while the officers tallied the accounts and the properties amassed. During their search, officials identified several properties, including the flats in Kokapet and Banjara Hills, villa in Kondapur, flat in Yousufguda, 11 acres of agricultural land, four prime open residential plots in Hyderabad, and 6,500 square yards of land in Mokila.

According to an ACB statement, they also found a commercial building in Karimnagar, and an apartment in Kodad, along with a 2KW solar power project in Zaheerabad and an under-construction building in Warangal with Muralidhar Rao.

Three four-wheelers, including a high-end vehicle, gold ornaments, and bank deposits, were also unearthed during the raid.

ACB officials stated that the accused acquired all the seized movable and immovable properties by abusing his official position, and the market value of the properties was expected to be much higher than the official estimate.

Muralidhar Rao was arrested and presented before an ACB court for special cases which sent him to judicial remand.