ACB cases on the rise in erstwhile Adilabad district in Telangana

ACB officials said that the erstwhile Adilabad district, comprising Adilabad, Nirmal, Mancherial and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts recorded 13 cases from January 1 to December 10 when compared to 9 cases in 2023

Adilabad: The erstwhile Adilabad district is seeing a rise in cases registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) against officials of various departments while accepting bribes this year.

ACB officials said that the erstwhile Adilabad district, comprising Adilabad, Nirmal, Mancherial and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts recorded 13 cases from January 1 to December 10 when compared to 9 cases in 2023. It had recorded just five cases each in 2022 and 2021, while four cases were registered in 2020.

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“Cases are going up in the composite Adilabad district due to improved awareness among the public over approaching ACB. At least 90 percent of accused public servants are being convicted. Steps are being taken to return the bribe to the victims in two months,” Adilabad ACB in-charge DSP VV Ramana Murthy said, adding the rise was a welcoming sign.

The officials further said victims could easily knock on the doors of ACB if a greedy official harasses them by demanding bribes for doing official favours. They stated that one could approach the agency by calling toll free number 1064 and contacting ACB DSP on 91543 88963, inspectors on 91543 88964 and 91543 88965.

“Steps are being taken to raid the offices of corrupt officials within 24 hours after receiving a complaint,” Murthy stated, adding that complainants need not to worry if officials were trapped by the ACB. He assured that the officials of the agency would ensure grievances of the complainants were addressed.

According to the officials, four public servants belonging to erstwhile Adilabad district were convicted by a special court for ACB cases in Karimnagar. For instance, the court sentenced Wankidi Inspector Lachanna to eight years of imprisonment for accepting a bribe in 2013.

Other officials convicted by the court included Regunta Swamy of NPDCL, Sridhar, a deputy director of the Tribal Welfare department and Pochaiah of the Commercial Tax department.

ACB cases

2024: 13
2023: 9
2023: 5

2022: 5
2021: 4

Toll free number: 1064 and

ACB DSP: 91543 88963

ACB Inspectors: 91543 88964, 91543 88965

Recent instances

December 10

T Srinivas, an assistant director (AD) of the Marketing department was arrested by ACB while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 7,000 from an applicant in Nirmal town.

November 29

Gandhari Jadadish, a junior assistant and attender working with the survey and land records department was apprehended when he was accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from an applicant in Nirmal district centre.

November 13

Shakeer, a junior assistant of Nirmal municipality was arrested by ACB while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from another employee of the civic body

August 9

Jadi Chethan, assistant engineer of irrigation department was arrested by ACB for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a contractor to discharge his duties in Chennur town

May 27

Vamshikrishna, a mandal agricultural officer (MAO) was trapped by the ACB while accepting Rs 38,000 from a trader of fertilizer outlet in Dahegaon mandal centre.

April 15
Rajya Laxmi A Sub-Inspector working with Asifabad police station was arrested by ACB on the charges of accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000 from an accused person of a road accident

January 23
Gangadhar, Revenue officer and Navanthu, bill collector from Nirmal municipality were caught red-handedly by ACB while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 3,500 from a person for issuing house number.