The ACB withheld the details of complainants due to security reasons
Hyderabad: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday arrested B. Vittal Rao, assistant city planner at the GHMC Secunderabad office, for demanding a Rs 8 lakh bribe to issue occupancy certificates for two flats. The accused was recently transferred from the Charminar zone.
According to the ACB, Vittal Rao had received Rs 4 lakh from the complainant and was demanding the payment of the remaining Rs 4 lakh to issue the certificates. Vexed with the accused's persistent demands, the complainant approached the ACB.
The anti-graft officials from City Unit-II took up the case and arrested Vittal Rao while he was bargaining with the complainant in his chamber.
The accused has been working with the GHMC for years and has cleared dozens of files, which include building permits or no-objection certificates (NOCs).
Enquiries by Deccan Chronicle revealed that the arrested official used to speak rudely to applicants. The accused used to send a chainman, an assistant, to track illegal constructions in the area. Using his inputs, advocates, who operate in nexus with the accused, used to file cases against the illegal construction.
On the receipt of the complaint, GHMC officials would act against the construction activity, which would bring to the fore local politicians who would step in to ‘settle’ the issue.
Sources in the ACB said the complaint received against Vittal Rao was only the tip of the iceberg. “Files that Vittal Rao cleared by flouting norms will only be known after a probe,” a GHMC official told Deccan Chronicle.
The ACB is likely to register a case of disproportionate assets against Vittal Rao to unearth his illegal properties.
“We are planning to book a disproportionate assets (DA) case against him in addition to the bribe after completion of searches at his house in Medipally and examining the properties allegedly acquired by him,” an ACB official said.
“We are also collecting additional details of the building owners, who previously secured occupancy certificates from the accused,” he said, adding that more clarity would emerge only after completion of the searches.
Before the ACB moved in, members of an organisation working for socially weaker sections, speaking to a Youtube media channel, had highlighted irregularities in the GHMC’s Secunderabad and Begumpet circle.
