Andhra Pradesh

Sangareddy Tahsildar in ACB net

Sangareddy: Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths caught Sangareddy Tahsildar P. Janarthan red-handed at his residence while accepting a bribe of Rs. 5,000 from the grandson of a freedom fighter for allocating a plot in the town under the freedom fighters’ quota here on Wednesday.

Chippa Sivamma, wife of freedom fighter late Chippa Sivaraj, applied for a 300 square yards of housing plot on November 14 of 2005 to the district Collector. After proper endorsements from the Collector, District Revenue Officer and Revenue Divisional Officer, the application reached the then MRO Asiaiah. However, the buck stopped at Janarthan after he took over as Tahsildar of Sangareddy.

Speaking to reporters, T. Veeresham, grandson of Sivaraj, said that Janarthan used to shout at him whenever he met him to remind about the allocation of the plot. He alleged that the Tahsildar used to make fun of him when he reminded him about his grandfather spending 14 years in jail for freedom of the country. Vexed with the Tahsildar’s behaviour, he met him at his residence behind the local Velugu office, where Janarthan demanded for Rs. 10,000 to clear the file. Veeresham informed the matter to the ACB and Nizamabad range DSP Karunanidhi and Sangareddy CI Laxmi Narayana laid a trap. The ACB also found Rs. 90,000 unaccounted cash in the possession of the Tahsildar. Veeresham also alleged that he has so far spent Rs. 50,000 for bribing lower-level employees in the Revenue Department for moving the file. However, Janarthan refuted the allegation and said that Veeresham forcibly left the cash on his table and he never invited him to his house. He said that the delay in allocation was simply because the beneficiary demanded a plot in Sangareddy town while all the freedom fighters were allocated land in Kandi, which is 6 km away from the town.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu