Hyderabad: ACB teams on Tuesday raided the house of Central Crime Station (CCS-DD) ACP Uma Maheshwar Rao in Ashoknagar and 13 other places — 10 in the twin cities, three in Visakhapatnam — for possessing disproportionate assets. More raids have been scheduled for Wednesday.
ACB officials reportedly seized Rs.37.50 lakh cash, 60 tola gold jewellery, movable and immovable properties worth Rs.3.5 crore, according to government valuation, during the searches, Y.V.S. Sudheendra Babu, ACB joint director, told Deccan Chronicle.
“Apart from this, our teams have confirmed 17 landed properties from Uma Maheshwar Rao’s relatives, friends and known persons. We will carry further raids after taking the accused officer into police custody,” Sudheendra Babu said. “It is alleged that he is involved in illegal settlements.” The ACB has submitted the case details to senior officials.
Sources said the property documents of ACP-rank officer Sandeep Rao were found in Uma Maheshwar Rao’s apartment.
Officials said Uma Maheshwar Rao had illegally gained money in the Sahitya Infra land scam.
Sources said that during the tenure of then DGP M. Mahender Reddy, Nandu Kumar, accused in the BRS poachgate case, and his partner Pramod Kumar were accused of encroaching on film producer Daggupati Suresh’s land and faced four other civil dispute cases in Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills police limits.
After a victim approached him, then DGP Mahender Reddy directed the CID to probe into the matter. Uma Maheshwar Rao, who was the CID investigation officer, allegedly collected money from the duo and diluted the case.
Sources said that in 2021 when Uma Maheshwar Rao was posted as the Ibrahimpatnam ACP — on the recommendation of a politician — he was involved in land settlements, he allegedly altered several civil cases into criminal cases and collected crores rupees from the land mafia. Then Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat after an internal inquiry relieved Uma Maheshwar Rao from his duties, police sources disclosed.
Sources alleged that Uma Maheshwar Rao collected Rs.15 crore in FMCG pharma scam and Rs.5 crore from film director Lakshminarayana.
