Rajahmundry: ACB sleuths raided the office of Polavaram tahsildar and verified the records following allegations of misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 80 lakh in West Godavari on Wednesday.
According to West Godavari ACB DSP V. Gopala Krishna, ACB officials raided the office of tahsildar M. Mukkanti and verified the records and examined some persons based on allegations that the tahsildar had withdrawn Rs 80 lakh from the treasury for transporting Polavaram irrigation project affected people from their villages to the rehabilitation centre.
According to preliminary findings, the tahsildar allegedly used the contractors to transport the affected villagers to the rehab centres in their vehicles instead of hiring vehicles for the purpose. The ACB authorities also collected the registration numbers of vehicles which the tahsildar claimed were used but found them to be fake with some of the numbers were found to be those of two-wheelers or autorickshaws.
As per norm, each family is supposed to be paid Rs 50,000 as transportation charges from their place in the affected village to the rehabilitation centre. The tahsildar, instead of paying money to the affected families, arranged vehicles and claimed the money with alleged fake bills. The ACB authorities intend to continue their probe after Dasara vacation.
