Senior tax officer raided, assets worth Rs 70 crore seized in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The ACB raided 20 properties owned by Vijayawada commercial tax commissioner Geddapu Lakshmi Prasad and his relatives and unearthed unaccounted wealth worth Rs 70 crore on Wednesday. Mr Prasad was arrested after the raids.

ACB sources said the accused was found to own eight properties in Hyderabad after searches were carried out at Narayanguda, Attapur, Banjara Hills, Amberpet, Ashok Nagar and Chanchalguda. 

He also has assets in Vijayawada, Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and 12 other places. Sleuths seized documents of many properties, cash and gold during the raids at properties belonging to the tax commissioner and filed a disproportionate assets case against him. 

Mr Prasad earlier worked as joint commissioner of commercial tax in Hyderabad before the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. 

Investigations revealed that the officer owned six properties in Hyderabad and as many as 20 properties in AP — mostly in Guntur and Vijayawada — together worth Rs 70 crore by market value.

It must be noted here that the same tainted official headed the vigilance and enforcement wing at one point.

After his term as joint commissioner, Mr Prasad worked as officer on special duty (OSD) under AP finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu and held several important positions in the AP government. 

The accused held agricultural land in Etcherla mandal in Srikakulam in the name of his mother-in-law and a vacant site at Ameerpet in Hyderabad in the name of his sister-in-law. 

A couple of properties were registered on the name of the official’s second wife.
An ACB official said, “Going by the long list of properties, one can gauge how much groundwork the ACB did before making the move. 

Officials had to trace the properties registered in the name of his second wife who lives in Hyderabad. 

Some of his associates have been providing crucial information in this particular case.

The accused started his career as commercial tax officer in 1987 and worked at Narasaraopet, Sattenapalli and Chilakaluripet in Guntur district. 

Later, he was promoted as deputy commissioner and worked in the Charminar division of the department in Hyderabad. He also worked in vigilance and enforcement department in Hyderabad and Kurnool.