Telangana: ACB nabs three government officials on bribery charges

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], May 21 (ANI): The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Telangana nabbed three government officials in two separate incidents for allegedly accepting bribes, the agency said in a statement on Monday.
According to the agency, the accused were identified as Radhika Reddy, Balraj and Joginipalli Bhaskar Rao.
In the first case, the ACB nabbed a Panchayat Secretary and Bill Collector for taking a bribe in the Rangareddy district.
Sharing details about the case, ACB said, "On May 20, 2024, at 1100 hrs Radhika Reddy, the Panchayat Secretary, Office of the Gram Panchayath, Nanajpur Village in Rangareddy district was caught by ACB for demanding and accepting a bribe amount of Rs 35,000 from a complainant identified as Mohd Barkath Ali."
The bribe was demanded through Balraj, a Bill Collector at Office of the Gram Panchayat, Nanajpur Village for official favour of allotment of house number and permission for construction of compound wall for Plot No 83 and 84/p (500 Square Yards) at Nanajpur Village, Shamshabad Mandal, Ranga Reddy District which belongs to the complainant.
The bribe amount was recovered from the possession of the accused officials following which both were arrested and produced before the Hon'ble Additional Special Judge for SPE and ACB cases, Court at Nampally, Hyderabad.
In Case 2, the ACB arrested a senior District Panchayat Raj Engineer for accepting a bribe in the Sircilla district.
According to ACB, "On May 20, 2024, at 11.25 hours, accused Officer (AO) Joginipalli Bhaskar Rao, Senior Assistant, the District Panchayat Raj Engineer, in Sircilla district was caught red-handed when he demanded and accepted a bribe amount of Rs 7,000 from a complainant identified as Golleni Venkatesh Rio."
The bribe was demanded by the official for a favour to place the Measurement Book and connected file about the construction work of the compound wall of a graveyard at Lingnnapet Village before the Executive Engineer of the District Panchayat Raj Engineer, Sircilla and to forward the same to Chief Planning Officer in the Siricilla District.
The bribe amount was recovered from the possession of the official following which he was arrested and produced before the Hon'ble Special Judge for SPE and ACB Cases at Karimnagar.
An investigation is underway in both the cases and further details into the matter are awaited. (ANI)