Telangana ACB nabs officers seeking 25 pc cut from contractor

Hyderabad: The Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday, October 22, arrested two officers working on the Bhagirathipet Project in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district for allegedly demanding a cut up to 25 per cent on contractor bills.

The accused have been identified as Project Officer Satish Reddy and Technical Officer Raju.

They had demanded illegal gratification of up to 10-25 per cent from a contractor for processing bills relating to works executed under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) 2.0 scheme and for allotment of further works, ACB stated in a release.

ACB said that an aggregate amount of Rs 39,17,000 was transferred to various bank accounts/UPI accounts allegedly communicated by the accused officers.

The complainant also furnished bank statements and WhatsApp chat records to support the allegations.

Satish Reddy had demanded an additional 25 per cent of the amount relating to the seventh bill in connection with recording measurements of further works and processing pending bills.

A case has been registered under sections 7(a), 7(b) and 13(1)(b) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as amended in 2018.

Both officers are being presented before a Special Court for Special Police Establishment (SPE) & ACB Cases in Warangal, for judicial remand. Further investigation is underway.