Top IAS officer held in land scam again shifted to hospital

Senior IAS officer B P Acharya, arrested by CBI in connection with the alleged irregularities in the APIIC-Emaar Properties land deal, was today again admitted to a Government hospital here.

Acharya, who was serving as Andhra Pradesh Principal Home Secretary at the time of his arrest on January 30, was chargesheeted along with 11 other accused yesterday. He is under judicial remand till February 15 and was produced before a Special CBI Court this morning on the court's direction.

The 1983-batch IAS officer was admitted to Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) with complaints of high blood pressure and chest pain. After being produced before the court here, Acharya told Judge Nagamaruthi Sarma that he was "forcefully" discharged from NIMS last night, though his health condition was still not well.

After being shifted to Chanchalguda Central Prison, Acharya collapsed in the jail premises. The doctors carried out health check-up as he complained of giddiness, severe headache, breathlessness, chest discomfort and hypertension. In view of Acharya's health condition, he was admitted to Osmania General Hospital (OGH), a senior jail official said.

The CBI, in its FIR in August last year, charged that Acharya, then Chairman and Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), entered into a criminal conspiracy with officials of Emaar Group and unknown public servants to cheat state-run APIIC and secure wrongful gains to the Dubai-based infrastructure firm.