ACB Acts on HYDRAA, Nets Big Corrupt Shark
HYDRAA complaint leads to probe into benami firms, land scams and record tampering
Hyderabad: Acting on a complaint lodged by the HYDRAA, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday raided the residence of Medchal Malkajgiri surveys and land records assistant director K. Srinivasulu, and found him amassing assets disproportionate to the known sources of income.
During the raids on his residence at My Home Bhooja, the ACB found that the accused officer had shell companies registered on benami names and his family members. He also owned a rice mill in Narayanpet district, 11 acres land in Karnataka, 11 acres land in Anantapur of Andhra Pradesh, four plots in Mahabubnagar, three plots in Narayanpet district, and had 1.6 kg gold ornaments.
In its complaint against Srinivasulu, HYDRAA alleged that Srinivasulu had illegally modified the land records in favour of some persons. Similarly, the Cyberabad Economic Offence Wing (EOW) police have registered criminal cases against the accused on August 30, 2024.
According to the FIR, HYDRAA commissioner A.V. Ranganath lodged a complaint seeking a criminal case against concerned officials for encouraging illegal constructions in Buffer Zone of Errakunta pond, Pragathinagar, Survey No. 134, Errakunta Pond (ID 200/E/17), under Nizampet municipality jurisdiction.
An investigation by the HYDRAA team revealed that permissions were granted based on incorrect geo-coordinates, placing the constructions 75 metres away from the actual location of the pond.
It was found that Srinivasulu did not provide adequate documentation for the investigation and may have been partial to the encroachers by altering coordinates.
The matter was brought to the High Court, which issued a judgment allowing the construction to proceed under the condition that it would not interfere with the identification of FTL/Buffer Zone by following due process.
The commissioner of Nizampet Municipality issued building permissions without proper procedure and failed to act on reminders from the HMDA metropolitan commissioner, to revoke these permissions. On August 15, 2024, HYDRAA demolished the illegal constructions.
The officials involved in violations were P. Ramakrishna Rao, Nizampet municipal commissioner, Poolsingh, MRO, Bachupally Mandal, K. Srinivasulu, assistant director (AD), survey and land records, Medchal-Malkajgiri district and others.