The Hyderabad Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested Abdullapurmet mandal surveyor Batuka Srinivasulu and tahsildar B. Sudershan Reddy on Monday while they were allegedly accepting a Rs 20 lakh bribe linked to a layout survey under Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority guidelines.
According to the ACB, the officials had initially demanded Rs 23 lakh from a party seeking a survey and a joint inspection survey report for the layout. The amount was later allegedly settled at Rs 20 lakh. The complainant approached the ACB, which registered a case and organised an operation.
The bureau said the alleged bribe money was recovered from Srinivasulu at his instance. He also tested positive for chemically marked notes, an indication used by investigators during the trap operation. The ACB has withheld the complainant’s details for security reasons.
The case concerns a stage in the approval and scrutiny of layouts under HMDA guidelines. Survey and joint inspection reports can form part of the administrative process through which land and layout proposals are examined by authorities. Such documents are relevant to developers, landowners and prospective buyers, although the supplied report does not specify the layout’s location, status or the precise regulatory decision sought by the complainant.
The arrests place the focus on the role of local revenue officials in land and development-related processes around Hyderabad’s expanding metropolitan region. A tahsildar’s office and mandal survey machinery can become an important administrative interface for residents and property stakeholders dealing with land records, boundary verification and related official reports. The ACB’s action alleges that this interface was used to demand money for carrying out the survey and issuing the report.
Srinivasulu and Sudershan Reddy were produced before the Principal Special Judge for Special Police Establishment and Anti-Corruption Bureau cases at Nampally, the ACB said. The report does not provide details of the court’s subsequent directions, the sections invoked in the case or any response from the arrested officials. The allegations will be examined through the legal process.
