The Hyderabad Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested a Keesara deputy tahsildar, a village revenue officer and an associate for allegedly demanding Rs 5 lakh and accepting an initial payment of Rs 2.5 lakh to process an application involving agricultural land on the Prohibited List.
The arrested officials are Keesara deputy tahsildar Amanaganti Sandeep Kumar Reddy and village revenue officer Nannuri Vijay Kumar Reddy, who works at the tahsildar office. Their alleged associate, Kavali Balakrishna, was also arrested, according to the ACB.
The case relates to an application seeking the removal of the complainant’s mother and other family members’ agricultural land from the Prohibited List under Section 22-A of the Registration Act, 1908. The provision is used in land-registration controls and can affect whether transactions involving listed properties can proceed.
According to the ACB, the deputy tahsildar demanded Rs 5 lakh from the complainant to process the application. The agency alleged that the official then instructed the VRO to arrange for Balakrishna to collect the money.
The ACB said Balakrishna accepted Rs 2.5 lakh from the complainant at the Keesara tahsildar office. The agency’s team caught him during the alleged transaction and recovered the tainted bribe amount, according to an ACB Rangareddy range officer quoted by the Times of India.
All three accused have been arrested and will be produced before the ACB special court in Nampally for judicial remand, the officer said. The allegations will be subject to proceedings before the court.
