ACB seizes Rs 93 lakh cash from Tahasildar's house

In a chance finding, Anti Corruption Bureau sleuths stumbled upon a huge amount of cash at the residence of V Lavanya, the Tahasildar of Keshampet in Ranga Reddy district after a Village Revenue Officer (VRO) spilt the beans. This the highest amount of money recovered from at government office by the ACB in the combined state and the present day state of Telangana.

The ACB caught the VRO Anantayya red-handed on Wednesday when he was taking a bribe from the hands of a farmer Mamidipalli Bhaskar of Datttayapalli village. The farmer was hounded by Anantayya saying that his 9.07-acre land was not present in the records. Anantayya demanded Rs 8 lakhs to set the record right in which Rs 5 lakh for him and Rs 3 lakh for the Tahasildar. The beleaguered farmer gave an advance of Rs 30,000 but later tipped off the ACB.

However the VRO, after being caught red-handed in the act of taking bribe revealed that he was directed by Lavanya to take the bribe and he is only playing his part in the whole episode. The ACB team, without wasting any time, reached Lavanya’s Hayatnagar residence here at the outskirts and raided the premises. To their surprise, they found Rs 93 cash in Rs 2000 and Rs 500 denominations and also 40 tolas of gold from her procession.

However, Lavanya could not explain the details of the origin of such a huge amount of cash disproportionate to her income. Her husband works in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Commission (GHMC) office as a superintendent and the ACB is also looking into his part in stashing of the huge amount of cash. The VRO is arrested and produced before court.