A special surveyor of the Urban Land Ceiling Department was caught red-handed by the ACB officials for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 50,000 from a complainant, here on Tuesday.
The accused, K. Balakrishna, allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs.1.5 lakh from Mehdi Bibi, a resident of Hussain Nagar, Marripalem, for issuing a no-objection certificate.
When the complainant expressed her inability to pay the huge sum, it was negotiated to Rs. 50,000.
Later, Ms. Bibi lodged a complaint with the ACB against the accused.
On Tuesday, she approached him with the amount at his office located on the first floor of the Collectorate.
The accused walked down with her to the parking lot and took the packet containing the amount and put it in the bag over his motorcycle tank. At that moment, he was nabbed by the ACB sleuths.
“We have arrested him. He will be produced before the Special Judge ACB on Wednesday,” said ACB DSP K. Ramakrishna Prasad.
The complainant, who owns an old tiled roof house built on 200 square yards at Hussain Nagar, took permission from the GVMC to demolish the roof and lay a slab roof. To construct the second floor, when the family members approached a bank for a loan of Rs. 15 lakh, they were asked to get the deed mortgaged in favour of the bank for the release of the loan. In this connection, the complainant approached the Sub-Registrar, who in turn advised her to obtain a no objection certificate from the ULC Department.
“The complainant approached the surveyor in November last year, and after dilly-dallying he demanded the bribe,” said Mr. Ramakrishna Prasad.
The accused joined services in 1993. After working in Srikakulam for some time, he moved to Gajuwaka as surveyor. He was shifted to the ULC in 2014.
He is accused of demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs.50,000 for giving an NOC