Telangana: Special Deputy Collector among three in ACB net

ACB arrests the three government employees at NIMZ office in Zaheerabad on charges of demanding and accepting bribes from farmers who lost land to the project

Sangareddy: Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials on Thursday arrested three government employees at the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) office in Zaheerabad, including Special Deputy Collector for land acquisition, on charges of demanding and accepting bribes from farmers who lost land to the project.

Those arrested were Special Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition) Raju Reddy, Deputy Tahsildar Satish, and driver Durgaiah. ACB sleuths recovered Rs 15,000 from Satish during the raid.

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According to ACB Medak officials, the trio had demanded bribes to process compensation cheques for farmers who lost 3 acres and 21 guntas of land at Huselli village in Nyalkal mandal. The total compensation amount due to the farmers was Rs 52.87 lakh.

The Special Deputy Collector allegedly demanded Rs 50,000, while Deputy Tahsildar sought Rs 15,000 to process the payment. In addition, driver Durgaiah is reported to have demanded Rs 1 lakh from the same farmer to “get the entire work processed”.

Unable to bear the burden of repeated bribe demands, the farmer approached ACB officials, who carried out the raid and arrested the accused.

The trio was produced before the ACB Court in Hyderabad. Further investigation is under way.