ACB arrests animal husbandry officials for diverting sheep purchase money

Hyderabad: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday arrested two officials in connection with the BRS era’s Rs 253-crore sheep purchase scam for diverting Rs 2.1 crore government funds on the pretext of sheep purchase.

According to the ACB, the arrested officials — Sabavath Ramchander, the chief executive officer of the Telangana Livestock Development Agency, and G. Kalyan Kumar, an officer on special duty with former animal husbandry minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav — had violated instructions issued for the procurement of sheep and deliberately involved private persons and brokers in the process.

“They also directed district joint directors of the animal husbandry department to facilitate misappropriation of government money by private persons,” the ACB said.
Ramchander is a former managing director (MD) of the Telangana Sheep and Goat Development Cooperative Federation Ltd.

Ramchander, Kalyan Kumar and others illegally obtained undue advantage and caused wrongful loss to the government exchanger and misappropriated government funds worth `2.1 crore. The two accused officers performed their officials' duties improperly and dishonestly to obtain undue advantage and caused huge revenue loss to the government, the ACB said.

The ACB officials produced the accused before the court for judicial remand. The ACB is likely to take police custody for questioning them further by filing a petition before the court.