Vijayawada:Officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday carried out simultaneous searches at the residences of former mines director V.G. Venkata Reddy and promoters of GCKC Projects and Works Private Limited, JPVL and Prathima Infrastructures Private Limited, among others.
The raids are part of the bureau’s ongoing investigations into these firms being involved in a series of violations in tenders and agreements while operating sand mines, thereby causing a huge loss to the state exchequer.
The ACB raided the residence of Venkata Reddy after booking a case against him under the relevant sections of Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018, and Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation), Act,1957.
The bureau’s investigations prima facie disclosed that Venkata Reddy, who also served as the in-charge managing director of Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation, abused his official position for pecuniary gains and entered into a criminal conspiracy with Messrs JPVL, GCKC, Prathima Infrastructure and others. Thereby, he fraudulently allowed these organisations and persons to misappropriate government funds.
In addition, the accused officer conspired with JPVL and others to release bank guarantees of ₹120 crore under his control in violation of norms, which resulted in criminal breach of trust and caused wrongful loss to the state exchequer and gain to JPVL, GCKC, Prathima Infrastructure and others.
The approximate wrongful loss caused to the government is worth ₹2,566 crore.
Reports of district-level sand committees further revealed that the officer allowed private agencies to use heavy machinery and excavate sand beyond the lease boundaries and permitted depth without obtaining any environmental clearance.
