On 24th January, the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) discovered assets valued at around Rs 100 crore and Rs 40 lakh in cash at a Hyderabad residence and offices linked to a town planning officer. The official has been identified as Shiva Balakrishna. He is the Secretary of Telangana State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TSRERA) and Planning Officer in Metro Rail. He was a former Director of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA).
The probe began at 5 am without the cooperation of the accused’s family members and it was scheduled to resume the next day. Furthermore, Shiva Balakrishna was arrested at 3 am on 25th January. The anti-corruption bureau stated that 14 teams conducted searches on premises linked to the official. Preliminary investigations suggested that he amassed substantial money by brokering licenses for numerous real estate firms.
The anti-corruption agency examined multiple places throughout the state including the residences of a few of the officer’s relatives. Till now Rs 40 lakh cash, 2 kg gold, documents of movable and immovable assets, 60 expensive wristwatches, 14 mobile phones and 10 laptops have been seized by the agency. The bank lockers of the official have not yet been unlocked. Lockers in at least four banks have been identified by the ACB. Cash counting machinery had allegedly been discovered by ACB authorities at the official’s home.
The investigators also found other benami properties. It was reported that he had accumulated a fortune during his time with the HMDA. More assets are likely to turn up as inquiries are carried out.
The Income Tax department seized nearly Rs 300 crore in cash from the premises of a distillery company in Odisha’s Balangir that belonged to the brother of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Prasad Sahu in December of last year. A shocking total of Rs 454 crore cash was uncovered in the raids connected to the Congress leader across multiple locations.
Similarly, the IT department searched multiple locations in Bengaluru in October and collected over Rs 42 crore from a flat owned by R Ambikapathy who was the vice-president of the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association and the president of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Contractors’ Association at the time.