GVMC bureaucrat falls in ACB net

Visakhapatnam: The ACB caught Vampadapu Atchi Naidu, the former commissioner of Nellimarla Nagar Panchayat and the superintendent of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), for possession of assets disproportionate to known income. These assets include cash, gold, land and houses, whose value exceeds Rs 10 crore.

Three decades ago, Atchi Naidu joined the Vizianagaram municipality as a Class-IV employee. ACB officials conducted raids at Naidu’s house in Vizianagaram, at his relatives’ houses in Denkada, Jammu and Gunupurpeta of Vizianagaram district, and at his office in Vizag.

They recovered documents on nine properties, spanning 2,190 sq yards in all, located at various places in Vizianagaram district, 4.3 acres of farm land in Vizianagaram, a flat in Vizag, three houses in Vizianagaram, 610 gm of gold and 2.5 kg of silver. Atchi Naidu has also made investments in real-estate through a relative. As per the documents, his assets are worth Rs 1.5 crore in all, but based on current market rates, their value exceeds Rs 10 crore.

ACB sources said Atchi Naidu had accepted bribes for allotment of contracts and for official favours. ACB officials arrested the tainted officer on Tuesday. They will produce him before the ACB court in Vizag. Recently, the ACB also caught Majji Sankara Rao, the tahsildar of Visakha Rural, for illegally amassing assets worth over Rs 10 crore. Sankara Rao is one of the main accused in the land grabbing cases of Vizag city.