Joint collector caught taking Rs 8 lakh bribe in Telangana

Hyderabad, Aug 13 (IANS) Telangana’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) caught Rangareddy district joint collector and a senior assistant red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 8 lakh.ACB Director C.V. Anand said on Tuesday that the ACB trapped and arrested Joint Collector M.V. Bhoopal Reddy and Senior Assistant Y. Madan Mohan Reddy of the district collectorate who colluded and abused their official positions.The official said they were caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 8,00,000 from the complainant for removing 14 guntha land from the prohibited list in the Dharani portal. “The duo took many precautions to receive the money without getting exposed. But our teams remained one step ahead and spontaneously strategized throughout the night and trapped them,” he said.The incident also highlights the problems arising out of the Dharani portal launched by the previous BRS government for land registration. There have been allegations that records relating to ownership of lands were manipulated.The Congress party, in its election manifesto, had promised to scrap Dharani and replace it with the ‘Bhumata’ portal by amending the Record of Rights (ROR) Act.According to revenue officials, about 3.50 lakh grievances were received regarding the Dharani portal.The ACB had on Monday trapped and arrested Guguloth Gopal, AE-Palakurthy section of Jangaon district. He is also the special officer of Gudikunta thanda Grama Panchayat.The team caught him red-handed while accepting a Rs 6,000 bribe from the complainant for signing and forwarding bills on behalf of Gudikunta Thanda.The ACB Director also announced on Monday that Vigilance and Enforcement teams of Nalgonda, Hyderabad City-1, and Hyderabad rural teams did multiple raids, and route inspections in their respective jurisdictions which resulted in the seizure of 55.5 tonnes of PDS (public distribution system) rice worth Rs 19.6 lakh. Apart from seizing vehicles, around Rs 9,65,599 tax was levied for flouting norms and transporting goods without way bills, he said.–IANSms/dpb