Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday raided properties belonging to Rajahmundry Education Department assistant director Maile Prabhakar Rao. The registered value of his properties was Rs 1.62 crore, but the market value is closer to Rs 30 crore.
On September 20, Prabhakar Rao was caught taking a bribe of Rs 10,000 and was arrested. Following this, his properties were raided on Tuesday. ACB Director General RP Thakur said as part of the investigation, his properties in Kakinada’s Salipeta, Rajamahendravaram, West Godavari’s Tanuku, and Bengaluru were raided.
Rajamahendravaram Anti-Corruption Bureau DSP Sudhakar conducted simultaneous raids at all of these locations. He said that the raids on Prabhakar Rao were carried out in multiple places after he was arrested in last month for accepting bribe of Rs 10,000 from a school teacher on September 20.
ACB officials in their release said that they found three vacant sites at Vizianagaram and in Tamil Nadu in the name of Prabhakar’s wife M Vijaya Kumari. Other assets include gold ornaments worth Rs 11 lakh, silver articles worth Rs 1.15 lakh, household articles worth Rs 3.13 lakh, cash of Rs 6.25 lakh, a bank balance of Rs 1.96 lakh and promissory notes worth Rs 6 lakh.
Rao is said to have purchased plots in Vizianagaram, Kurnool and Bengaluru, among other places by using corrupt means.
Prabhakar Rao is an official at the District Education Office, Kakinada, and also the in-charge Deputy Education Officer of Rajamahendravaram.
Earlier in May, an office attendant in Nellore district’s Transport Department was found holding properties worth Rs 100 crore. The ACB raided his properties and are investigating the disproportionate assets held by him. He used to allegedly decline promotions at his job.
In July, ACB officers raided Pollution Control Board environmental engineer Emani Satyanarayana’s holdings in Vijayawada, Nellore, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad, and seized properties worth crores of rupees.