Hyderabad: ACB now checking reputation of officials

Hyderabad: The Anti-Corruption Bureau is running a reputation check on officials against whom complainants are being filed with the bureau. The report of the officer’s ‘character’ plays an important role in building the ACB case.

The ACB checks through its internal resources if the accused has harassed colleagues or people approaching him, and if the officer is demanding bribes.
In the case of TS industries department general manager K. Suresh Kumar, who was raided and booked under a disproportionate assets case on Friday, it was found that he had harrased industry owners for bribes even though they had the relevant documents. 

Same was the case with K. Purushotham Reddy, former HMDA city planner, who allegedly demanded properties from builders. When the ACB checked the reputations of additional metropolitan sessions judge S. Radhakrishna Murthy and labour court judicial officer Mallampati Gandhi, it found that they faced allegations of corruption and had harassed their immediate associates. Mallampati Gandhi allegedly deployed 20 judicial personnel recruited by the government to work as cooks, gardeners, drivers, sweepers and dhobis at his residence.

Similarly, Chaitanyapuri police sub-inspector G. Eroji who was trapped while accepting a Rs 20,000 bribe from an advocate relating to a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. This practise of checking on reputation is carried out by ACB sleuths of both Telugu speaking states. An internal investigation is done to check if the officer falls in the ‘most corrupt’, ‘corrupt’ or ‘honest’ category.

A senior ACB officer told this newspaper, “When we receive complaints either through the toll free number 1064 or a written note, we launch an internal enquiry to scrutinise the reputation of the officer. Intelligence teams will check under which category the officer falls, and the case will be pursued accordingly. Targets have been set on officials with a tainted image.”

The ACB is also keeping tabs on top-ranking officials who harass employees, demand bribes for project execution and stall promotions, and amass ill-gotten wealth and property.