Joint Collector of Ranga Reddy district among two held for taking bribe

Hyderabad: Two government officials, including the Joint Collector of Ranga Reddy district, were arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Telangana for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 8 lakh, the ACB said on Tuesday.

In a post on 'X', ACB Director-General (DG) CV Anand said: "ACB traps and arrests MV Bhoopal Reddy, Joint Collector and Senior Assistant Y Madan Mohan Reddy of Ranga Reddy district collectorate who colluded and abused their official positions. They were caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 8,00,000 from the complainant for removal of 14 guntas land from prohibited list in Dharani portal."

The duo took many precautions to receive the money without getting exposed, the ACB DG said adding that the ACB teams remained one step ahead and spontaneously strategised throughout the night and trapped them.

'Dharani' is an Integrated Land Records Management System.

Madan Mohan Reddy was caught red-handed at Gurramguda X road near Sanjeevani Vanam here on August 12 night by the ACB officials when he demanded and accepted the bribe amount of eight lakhs from the complainant in his car as bribe to process and get complainant’s work done by influencing his higher officials i.e., to remove the 14 guntas of land from Prohibited list in Dharani website, the ACB said in a release.

The bribe amount was recovered from the possession of Madan Mohan Reddy from his car.

During enquiry, Madan Mohan Reddy confessed that he demanded the bribe on behalf of MV Bhoopal Reddy, Joint Collector.

When Madan Mohan Reddy called Bhoopal Reddy on his phone and informed about the receipt of bribe amount, the Joint Collector instructed him to come to Peddamberpet ORR to hand over the money.

Bhoopal Reddy arrived at a spot near Peddamberpet ORR in his official vehicle and Madan Mohan Reddy handed over the amount to the senior official, following which the bribe amount was recovered from the Joint Collector's car.

The accused officers "abused" their official position, powers vested in them and demanded and accepted the "bribe" amount, the ACB said.

The case is under investigation.