ACB to chargesheet babus in graft case

HYDERABAD: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is expected to file chargesheets under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) against government officials, including former revenue divisional officers (RDO), joint collectors, and police officers, on bribery and amassing wealth disproportionate to known source of income.

According to sources, special teams that apprehended the accused officers and registered disproportionate assets (DA) cases have intensified the investigation by gathering and submitting proper evidence of the accused officer's illegal activities to the court.

"The investigation of several important cases in which the accused officers accepted bribes and amassed crores of rupees has concluded, and charge sheets with evidence will be filed," sources said.

Several officers were suspended after being caught taking bribes and amassing wealth that was disproportionate to their known source of income. Among those being investigated by the ACB are suspended Medak district joint collector Nagesh Peddapalli, revenue divisional officer K. Shankar Kumar, and Malkajgiri assistant police commissioner Y. Narasimha Reddy, according to the ACB.

ACB sleuths apprehended Peddapalli RDO Shankar Kumar while he was accepting a Rs 1 lakh bribe from a contractor to approve bills totalling RS 9 lakh. During the course of the investigation, the ACB discovered the officer's illegal assets and filed disproportionate assets cases against him.

"We discovered that Shankar Kumar amassed illegal assets worth crores of rupees in market value. The investigation into the case is nearly complete," according to ACB sources. Similarly, ACB officials have obtained leads in connection with suspended officer Nagesh's illegal properties, and a chargesheet will be filed soon.

Additionally, ACB officers discovered illegal assets amassed by Malkajgiri assistant police commissioner Narasimha Reddy. The involvement of some political leaders in the case has also been established, according to sources.