Tainted Andhra Pradesh tahsildar nabbed, property worth Rs 5 crore discovered

Two weeks after criminal cases were booked against the Visakhapatnam rural tahsildar, M Shankar Rao, sleuths of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) nabbed him on Wednesday.

VISAKHAPATNAM: Two weeks after criminal cases were booked on the advice of the district collector against the Visakhapatnam rural tahsildar, M Shankar Rao, sleuths of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) nabbed him here on Wednesday.

M Shankar Rao (File photo)
M Shankar Rao (File photo)

The officer was at large since criminal cases were booked. The ACB officials after raiding his houses and properties, booked several cases against the tahsildar for having wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.

By the end of Wednesday, the wealth assessed amounted to Rs 1.22 crore, whose market value is estimated to be around Rs 5 crore.

Shankar Rao is said to be one of the main accused involved in the land grabbing cases in Visakhapatnam, especially in Madhuràwada zone, including Kommadi and PM Palem.

According to sources, the accused tampered the government records to favour of land sharks and took hefty kickbacks for his services. Sources said that Shankar Rao tampered the documents of settlement fair adangal (SFA), RSR resurvey settlement register (RSR) and changed government and urban land ceiling (ULC) in the name of private persons for which he took hefty amounts.

The ACB sleuths raided his houses at Bobbili, his native village, Srikakulam town, Vizianagaram and Visakhaptnam.  

Sources said that at the end of the day, the ACB officials recovered three plots with two houses at Bobbili, two plots at Chinagantyada in Gajuwaka, two house sites at Sabbavaram in Visakhapatnam district, one house site in Nakkapalli and one benami site at Peddapuram in East Godavari district. Meanwhile, some documents from his friend’s house and half a kg of gold were seized.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com