ACB arrests VMRDA planning officer VS Babu for graft

Vishakapatnam: The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered a case against the planning officer of the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) Vardhanapu Sobhan Babu for possessing ‘disproportionate’ assets of Rs 2.6 crore. The assets were unearthed in a raid on Wednesday.

According to an official release, Babu, a resident of Aditya Royal Apartment at Lawsons Bay of Colony here, was found in possession of assets that were disproportionate to his known sources of income.

During the course of searches at the residential premises and other places in Gajuwaka and Palakollu of West Godavari, sleuths found that Babu and his family members were in possession of three flats, a plot of land, mango tope of about 0.90 cents, a four-wheeler, 2 two-wheelers, electrical gadgets, gold, bank balances, household articles and cash, together worth Rs 2.6 crore.

The errant officer was arrested and produced before the court.

Native of Penumanchi Village, Achanta Mandal of West Godavari district, he joined government service in 1987 as a town planning and building overseer. He was promoted as town planning supervisor in 1997 and as town planning officer in 2009.  Later he was promoted as assistant director in 2015 before he worked at VMRDA from 2019.