Hyderabad: Survey official Narahari Rao’s Rs. 3.5 crore cooperative society deposit unearthed in ACB raids

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Hyderabad has unearthed assets worth over Rs. 30 crore from Deputy Director of Survey and Land Records, Sunkari Narahari Rao, following raids at multiple locations. Investigators found large cash deposits, gold, silver, and properties, with suspicions that the wealth was amassed through bribes and illegal cash transactions routed via a cooperative society.

Hyderabad: Sunkari Narahari Rao, Deputy Director, Multi Zone-II, Survey and Land Records, had invested Rs. 3.5 crore as a fixed deposit in a private cooperative society and earned 12 percent interest annually.

The interesting aspect of the arrangement was that the cooperative society accepted the entire amount in cash, maintained no online records, and paid the interest in hard cash. This ensured there was no income tax scrutiny.

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According to ACB sources, the bureau is writing to the Income Tax Department to alert it about the alleged illegal transactions. The ACB is keen to ascertain who the members of the society are and how long the business has been operating.

Sources in the ACB said that Narahari Rao received the huge amount of cash found recently at his residence and in his bank locker. It is suspected that the money was paid in exchange for official favours extended to certain individuals.

“The raid was timely, and we were able to seize a huge amount of cash. Narahari Rao always preferred to accept cash from individuals in return for official favours. He allegedly collected a minimum of Rs. 10 lakhs in bribes,” an ACB official said.

The ACB plans to examine the details of the fixed deposits held in banks and the cooperative society. Officials will also scrutinise files cleared by Narahari Rao during the relevant period to determine whether he overlooked violations while granting official permissions.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths on Tuesday conducted simultaneous searches at 10 locations linked to the deputy director of Survey and Land Records in Hyderabad and unearthed assets worth over Rs. 30 crore.

During the searches, officials detected documents relating to five open plots in Rangareddy district, 1.24 acres of agricultural land at Maheshwaram, a 2,500-square-foot flat in a high-rise building at Puppalaguda, two flats measuring 1,860 square feet each in a high-rise complex at Narsingi, and a 1,377-square-foot flat at Rajendranagar. Officials also identified a G+3 building at TNGOs Colony, Gachibowli, and a G+2 residential building at Chatrinaka.

The ACB further recovered approximately Rs. 1.54 crore in cash, bank deposits worth Rs. 2.29 crore, fixed deposits valued at Rs. 5.04 crore, gold ornaments weighing around 1.3 kg, and 8 kg of silver from the official’s residence. A luxury car was also found during the searches.

On Saturday, the ACB team took Narahari Rao to a bank in Shahalibanda, opened his locker, and recovered cash amounting to Rs. 1.50 crore. The bureau also seized two kilograms of gold and diamond-studded jewellery, apart from 12 gold biscuits.

The ACB is continuing its investigation and searches after registering a disproportionate assets (DA) case against Narahari Rao.