A tehsildar in Telangana was allegedly caught red-handed taking a bribe of nearly Rs 1 crore by officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday. Erva Balaraju Nagaraju, the Mandal Revenue Officer (MRO) or tehsildar of Keesara mandal in Telangana’s Medchal-Malkajgiri district, had demanded a bribe of Rs 2 crore from real estate dealers to settle a land dispute, according to ACB officials.
According to reports, the land in question was a 28-acre parcel of land in the Rampally Dayara village of Keesara mandal. The New Indian Express reported that a few farmers from the village had recently obtained a High Court order in their favour. However, the MRO was found to have demanded a bribe from real estate agents to settle the dispute in their favour.
Keesara Tahsildar Erva Balraju Nagaraju was caught red-handed by the Anti Corruption Bureau while accepting over Rs 1.10 crore as bribe for an official favour. Look at all that money. #Telangana pic.twitter.com/HUlLNGUa2n
— Paul Oommen (@Paul_Oommen) August 14, 2020
ACB officials told the media that they had received confidential information on the deal, and caught the MRO red-handed at his rented residence in AS Rao Nagar in Hyderabad. Two real estate developers or agents, Srinadh and Anji Reddy, were also arrested, as well as a Village Revenue Assistant Sairaj who was also present.
ACB officials said that while the MRO had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 2 crore, he was caught taking Rs 1 crore from the real estate businessmen. “We are also simultaneously searching Nagaraju’s house, and so far we have found Rs 28 lakh in cash, a huge amount of gold and a locker key,” ACB DSP Suryanarayana told ETV Telugu.
In November 2019, Abdullapurmet MRO Vijaya Reddy was burnt alive in her office by a man named Suresh over a land dispute. Four people died in the incident, including the MRO, her attender Chandraiah, driver Gurunatham and the accused Suresh himself. In the aftermath of the shocking incident, revenue employees in the state held protests blaming Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for demonising them.
Earlier in July, a Dalit farmer in Telangana’s Gajwel municipality died by suicide, after alleged land grabbing attempts by local authorities. In a voice note recorded before his death, the farmer had reportedly claimed that the Sarpanch, Village Revenue Officer and Mandal Revenue Officer were responsible for his death.
Watch: Telangana tehsildar allegedly caught red-handed taking a bribe of Rs 1 crore