CBI Arrests Hyderabad Mining Deputy Director and Two Others in Bribe Case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested U. Siva Sankar, Deputy Director (Mining) of DGMS, Hyderabad-III Region, South Central Zone, along with two others in connection with a bribery case.

The other two arrested individuals have been identified as Sidda Venkata Suresh Kumar, a representative of Vasavi Granites in Chimakurty, Prakasam district, and A. Subhaskar Reddy, a consultant-cum-middleman and proprietor of Lotus Enviro Mining Services (LEMS) at Ongole in Prakasam district.

The CBI registered the case on Monday against the three individuals alongside other unknown public servants and private persons following information regarding a fatal accident that occurred on June 25 at a mining quarry in Prakasam district.

According to the CBI, representatives of the mining establishment approached Sankar through Reddy to secure a favourable enquiry report regarding the fatal accident that would avoid implicating the quarry owners. Investigators alleged that the middleman had previously paid Rs 1 lakh to Sankar as part of the undue advantage.

Subsequently, an additional amount of Rs 2 lakh was arranged for delivery to Sankar at Ongole on Monday. The sum was meant to secure the favourable report in the fatal accident case and also cover alleged quarterly bribe payments relating to the private mining establishment and other mines.

The CBI laid a trap and caught Sankar red-handed while he was accepting the Rs 2 lakh bribe from the consultant in the presence of the mining firm's representative. The agency recovered the bribe amount during the trap proceedings.

Following the arrests, search operations were launched at the premises of the accused across Hyderabad, Kadapa, and Ongole. All three arrested persons were subsequently produced before the competent court in Vijayawada.