Andhra Pradesh ACB suspects builders, realtors nexus

Vijayawada: The AP Anti-Corruption Bureau on Monday raided houses of two senior officials in the town planning department and unearthed properties worth Rs 150 crore in market value.

He had the support of Prasad and his wife Gayathri as all three had once worked together in the town planning wing of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation.

“We have verified their properties from 2007-08. They were doubled and doubled again within years. Prasad, a resident of Gundala, who had just one house in 1992, has Rs 70 crore worth of properties. We were shocked to see the huge gold ornaments made of two-three kilograms of gold and huge diamonds,” Mr Thakur told the media.

The search of Shiva Prasad's residence in Gannavaram started at 6 am on Monday. Gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 4 crore and Rs 5 crore in promissory notes without details were found. Documents pertaining to lands and properties worth Rs 40 crore, which included an air-conditioned convention centre being constructed at Gann-avaram, were also seized.

Altogether, Rs 43 lakh in cash, eight kilos of gold, 23 kilos of silver and household articles worth Rs 8 lakh, and immovable properties worth Rs 90 crore in various locations in the state were found.

The search of Gola Venkata Raghu’s house at Mangalagiri unearthed a huge number of properties, including a guest house in Shirdi and commercial complexes in Visakhapatnam.

ACB officers suspect that the two officials earned the money by doing favours to builders and realtors in their official capacity.