Taking corruption a few jaw-dropping notches up, a Village Revenue Officer (VRO) recently arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in Andhra Pradesh was found to be owning a staggering string of 52 properties with the market value of Rs. 25 crore.
The ACB team that raided the house of the Vissannapet VRO, Behara Seetharamaiah, was stunned to find a plethora of property documents in his and his son’s names. He was produced before the ACB Court, which remanded him to judicial custody till June 3.
Though the ACB sleuths mentioned that the value of the properties was around Rs. 3 crore in the court, the market value could be around Rs. 25 crore, the officials estimate, expressing surprise that a village level officer could amass so much wealth.
“ACB sleuths seized documents relating to 52 properties, 2 kg of gold jewellery and 1.5 kg silver ornaments, Rs. 22 lakh cash and original land records of many villages from his possession,” said the ACB Deputy Superintendent of Police V. Gopalakrishna.
Seetharamaiah, a Karanam by profession, became VRO in Ibrahimpatnam mandal close to Vijayawada in Krishna district. A few years ago, the police filed a criminal case against him on charges of misappropriation of funds. Later, he was shifted to Avanigadda mandal, but he did not join duty there.
He was transferred to Vemureddipalli village in Vissannapet mandal, where he reported for duty a few months ago, but was not attending for duties. Instead, he opened a document writer’s office at the Sub-Registrar Office, near Ibrahimpatnam, where his son, B. Venkata Balasubramanyam, works.
Document writer
“Seetharamaiah operates from the document writer’s office. He was maintaining all land records and Field Measurement Books (FMBs) of Ibrahimpatnam mandal in his office illegally.
The modus operandi of the accused is to purchase litigant lands and sell them at higher prices after making some alterations or tampering with the records,” said Mr. Gopalakrishna.
After the announcement of A.P. Capital on the banks of the Krishna, the VRO effected many land transactions and earned good money. Seetharamaiah, who has put in 22 years of service, kept the Revenue and Registration Department officials in his grip. So much so that the officers or the public used to contact him for any land records, doubts, verification of boundaries and other disputes.
The accused also gave private loans worth about Rs. 1.06 crore to the public, and the promissory notes were seized from his house. Interestingly, the pay scale for VROs is Rs. 7,740 to Rs.23,040, with intermediate as qualification. None of the Revenue officials had complained against Seetharamaiah in the last 20 years, the DSP said.
“ACB sleuths seized documents relating to 52 properties, 2 kg of gold jewellery and 1.5 kg silver ornaments, Rs. 22 lakh cash and original land records of many villages from his possession,” the DSP added.
