Andhra officer found to have Rs.800 crore disproportionate assets

Hyderabad: An official in Andhra Pradesh has been arrested and sent to jail for amassing wealth said to be around Rs.800 crore, allegedly through corruption.

Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials continued their searches on Friday to unearth the assets of Mohan, a deputy commissioner in the transport department. The simultaneous searches, which began on Thursday, were conducted at nine places in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.

ACB officials recovered gold and silver jewellery and cash from the officer's house in Kakinada town in East Godavari district. Documents of several lands and flats owned by him and his family members in Nellore, Prakasam and Chittoor districts of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad in Telangana and Bellary in Karnataka were also found.

The market value of the assets could be around Rs.800 crore. Some bank lockers of the officers are yet to be opened.

ACB officials said Mohan (52) and his family members own as many as eight plots of 450-500 square yards each at Kompally in Hyderabad. They also have four plots in Madhapur, the information technology hub. Other prime property in Hyderabad, include a four-storey building in posh Jubilee Hills and a flat in commercial centre Panjagutta.

ACB official A. Ramadevi, who led the raids, said there were 10 house sites and seven acre agriculture land in Bellary, Karnataka in the name of Mohan's son-in-law. The transport official owns 45 acres in Prakasam district while 9.5 acre land is registered in the name of his daughter in Nellore.

Mohan had also invested in five companies he had set up in the name of his elder daughter. Officials suspect the firms could have been used for money laundering.

The ACB took action following complaints against Mohan, a Group I officer in the state. A case of disproportionate assets was booked against him. The officer had been serving as deputy commissioner at Kakinada since 2014. He had earlier served at various places in then united Andhra Pradesh.

--IANS