ACB Urges I-T Department to Probe Benami Assets of Telangana Officials

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Hyderabad has written to the Income-Tax Department seeking an investigation into properties allegedly held in benami names by several Telangana government officials who were recently raided in connection with disproportionate assets cases.

Following the referral, the Income-Tax Department registered cases under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act and initiated an investigation into the matter.

Among the cases referred to the I-T department are those involving suspended DSP Sankireddy Bheem Reddy, Muthyam Venkat Ramana of the Telangana Renewable Energy Development Corporation (Redco), and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) chief engineer Ravinder.

The agency also referred the cases of land records deputy director Sunkari Narahari Rao, excise superintendent Kommuri Mallareddy, and Roads and Buildings (R&B) engineer-in-chief Mohan Naik.

In each of these cases, the ACB alleged that it uncovered disproportionate assets worth hundreds of crores of rupees by market value. The unearthed assets reportedly included land holdings, buildings, financial investments, and several kilograms of gold ornaments.