A government official with alleged assets worth over Rs 100 crore has been apprehended by Telangana’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). On Wednesday, January 24, the ACB’s detectives raided the offices of S Balakrishna, Secretary of the Telangana State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TSRERA), and Metro Rail’s Planning Officer simultaneously.
Earlier, he was employed by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) as the director of town planning. The anti-graft body’s 14 teams searched all day, and they’re probably going to do so again on Thursday, January 25.
Raids carried out concurrently at Balakrishna’s residence, offices, and relatives’ premises resulted in the recovery of assets valued at more than Rs 100 crore.
Till now up to 16 locations are currently going through raids, which are being carried out by 18 ACB squads.
A total of Rs 100 crore worth of assets and valuables were retrieved, including gold, cell phones, bank deposits, and apartments.
However, the official has not yet unlocked his bank lockers. At least four banks have lockers that the ACB has identified.
The ACB teams claim that Shiva Balakrishna’s family is not helping with the search operation. The investigation teams are currently searching Shiva Balakrishna’s bank vaults and other belongings.
At the official’s home, the ACB officials allegedly discovered cash counting machinery. It was said that he had accumulated fortune during his time with the HMDA. The investigators also found other benami properties.
On Wednesday, at 5 a.m., the raid begabegan. The offices, residence, and other significant sites were searched by the anti-corruption bureau.
Meanwhile, the Income Tax department seized nearly Rs 300 crore in cash from the premises of a distillery company in Balangir, Odisha, that belonged to the brother of Congress leader Dhiraj Sahu in December of last year.
The income tax (IT) department raided and searched multiple locations in Bengaluru in October, recovering approximately Rs 42 crore from a flat owned by R Ambikapathy, who was the vice-president of the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association and the president of the BBMP Contractors’ Association at the time.