Suspended Visakhapatnam rural tahsildar M. Shankar Rao, against whom criminal cases had been booked on the directive of district Collector Pravin Kumar and who was at large since then, was nabbed by the sleuths of the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) here on Wednesday.
The ACB charged Shankar Rao with possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Assets seized
The registered value of the assets seized so far was put at ₹1.22 crore. The market value, however, is expected to be over ₹5 crore.
Shankar Rao is said to be one of the main accused in the land grabbing cases in Visakhapatnam, especially in the areas such as Kommadi, PM Palem, Pendurthi, and Madhurawada.
Revenue and ACB officials alleged that he had tampered with government records to favour land sharks and took hefty amounts from them as commission.
A senior revenue official told The Hindu that Shankar Rao had gone to the extent of tampering with the Settlement Fair Adangal (SFA) and Resurvey Settlement Register (RSR). He had shown the government and the ULC (urban land ceiling) lands in the name of private individuals and then got them sold at a very high price.
“The higher the value and extent of land, the higher was his share of commission that ranged up to 10%,” said the officer.
ACB DSP K. Ramkrishna Prasad said the accused had been absconding for the last 15 days. “We tracked and caught him on Wednesday,” he said.
The ACB sleuths conducted raids in Bobbili, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhaptnam and Kotauratla in the district.
The ACB also raided the house of his mother-in-law and Kotauratla MPP member.
The ACB officers seized documents pertaining to three plots with two houses in Bobbili, two plots at Chinagantyada in Gajuwaka, two house sites at Sabbavaram in Visakhapatnam district, one house site in Nakapalli and one benami site at Peddapuram in East Godavari district. A few documents were also seized from his friend Satyanarayana in Bobbili.
“We are examining them,” said Mr. Prasad.
Gold recovered
The sleuths also seized about half kg of gold.
Shankar Rao joined as junior assistant in 1980 and rose to the position of tahsildar. He was to retire from service on attaining superannuation next month. He had worked in Visakhapatnam district, Kotauratla and Paderu in the Visakhapatnam Agency.
