Corrupt officials had style: ACB finds Gucci watches, Mont Blanc pens

•December 24: ACB unearths disproportionate assets worth Rs 3.32 crore during raids at the residence and offices of Irrigation Department Deputy Executive Engineer O Govind Reddy.

•December 28: Assets worth Rs 1.61 crore unearthed from Chief Engineer of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) Vivek Deshmukh, including a collection of luxury wrist watches.

The magnitude of disproportionate assets amassed by engineers of government departments, particularly those of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has raised several eyebrows, even in the seasoned ACB.

What has come as a shock is that apart from the discovery of assets like land and houses, the usual suspects in such raids, these raids have thrown up hordes of the choicest luxury items. Collections of watches of top international brands like Rado and Gucci, gold-tipped Cross and Mont Blanc pens, chunks of gold, teak wood and marble stone godowns and multi-storied apartments are some of the assets owned by these government employees.

“It clearly shows the kind of lifestyle these officials were leading in spite of having a very limited legal income. They had become used to brazen indulgences in everything that is the most luxurious and expensive,” says ACB Director General of Police Girish Kumar.

A raid on HMDA Chief Engineer Vivek Deshmukh’s house revealed that he owned a building under construction that is worth over Rs one crore, 21 acres of agricultural land, one kilo gold, 3,000 dollars, apart from a penchant for expensive watches and pens. Over 40 wrist watches of international brands, each costing over Rs one lakh, a plethora of fountain pens of international brands and assets worth nearly Rs 2.5 crore were unearthed from his house. Deshmukh is in charge of many important projects in Hyderabad including the P V Narasimha Rao Elevated Expressway.

In the case of Deputy Executive Engineer of Irrigation Department, O Govind Reddy, the ACB found assets worth Rs 6 crore including 7 houses.

Raids of the office and residence of GHMC assistant city planner S Sharadamba revealed a five-storey apartment in Madhapur, six residential plots, two acres of agricultural land, 4 lakh worth of teak wood and imported liquor while raids on the office and residence of GHMC town planning supervisor P Srinivas Das threw up three flats, seven plots, nine acres of agricultural land, one kilo of gold and 29 lakhs in cash.

ACB unearthed assets worth 5 crore from GHMC Assistant City Planner L Bikshapathi including 26 residential plots and two kilos of gold. Bikshapathi was also operating 20 bank accounts which are still under investigation. The ACB registered 479 corruption cases against officials this year, 232 of which were filed after laying traps for suspect officers.