What started as a routine case of corruption is slowly emerging a cause celebre, with the Anti-Corruption Bureau officials arresting two persons on charge of being ‘benami’ of the absconding HMDA Director under suspension, K. Purushotham Reddy.
Barring few cases like that of suspended policeman A. Mohan Reddy of Karimnagar, arrests of individuals for acting as benami were rare in recent past. One of the arrested is A. Yadava Reddy, managing director of a real estate firm in Habsiguda. The other, G. Nishanth Reddy, is the younger brother of the absconding officer’s son-in-law. Both were accused of helping Purushotham Reddy to “park his ill-gotten money” in real estate ventures and construction field, on their names. Inquiries revealed that Yadava Reddy was originally an employee of GHMC.
The first corruption case was registered against Purushotham Reddy in 2009 while he was working as GHMC Additional Chief City Planner. Yadava Reddy joined GHMC as sanitary supervisor and became sanitary inspector. “Later, Yadava Reddy resigned from his job and started Sri Sai Hari Hara Estate Privates Limited, where Purushotham Reddy’s wife was director for some time. “Though she resigned from the position, in ledger accounts her name was mentioned,” ACB officials supervising investigation of the case, said.
When ACB booked case against Purushotham Reddy in 2009, most of his properties were in the names of his family members. “Looks like he devised a new plan of keeping illegally acquired assets in the names of benamis to evade corruption cases, having faced the case earlier,” an ACB official said. Some more persons are likely to be arrested for acting as benami of the absconding officer. ACB had earlier served notices to Nishanth Reddy, his father Radhacharan Reddy and sibling Nipun Reddy.
Meanwhile, a special team led by ACB DSP Pratap Kumar searched the office of Charan’s Life Devices Limited, owned by Radhacharan Reddy, at Somajiguda. Searches were going on when reports last came in.
