Three days before retirement, official’s ₹500-cr assets seized

THE ANDHRA OFFICIAL HAD PLANNED A GRAND PARTY FOR HIS RELATIVES AND FRIENDS AT A RESORT ABROAD

HYDERABAD: Senior Andhra Pradesh municipal department official Golla Venkata Raghurami Reddy just couldn’t wait for his retirement, which was due to happen on September 28. He planned to throw a grand party for his relatives and friends at a resort abroad, and had even booked flight tickets for them.

Fate, however, had other plans for him. Reddy’s universe came crashing down on Monday, just two days before the big occasion, when anti-corruption bureau (ACB) sleuths arrested him from Visakhapatnam for amassing assets amounting to over ₹500 crore.

He was remanded in judicial custody on Tuesday evening. Anti-corruption authorities raided as many as 16 properties belonging to Reddy, director of state town planning with the municipal administration department, through Monday and Tuesday. His assets were spread across Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Chittoor, Mangalagiri, Tirupati, and even Shirdi in neighbouring Maharashtra.

ACB director general RP Thakur said the total value of the confiscated assets would be revealed once the raids are completed. “The market value of the assets confiscated so far is estimated at ₹500 crore. We will be able to disclose a comprehensive figure only after opening Reddy’s bank lockers,” he added.