Officials said Reddy started purchasing plots in Nellore Rural Mandal since 1992 and in the last ten years, he had amassed gold and silver ornaments.
An office attendant working in Andhra Pradesh Transport Department, who had amassed over Rs 10 crores worth of property, was on Tuesday arrested by the Central Investigation Unit of the state Anti Corruption Bureau at Nellore.
K Narasimha Reddy, 55, who was working in the office of Deputy Transport Commissioner, Nellore District as Office Subordinate cum Attendant, had a monthly income of less than Rs 40,000 per month. However, he came to the special attention of ACB officers when he purchased his 18th piece of land recently. ACB had been tracking him after land records started getting digitized.
Reddy, an enthusiast of hand-crafted silver ornaments including idols and artistic pieces, had first come under scrutiny after placing orders for dozens of silver items weighing in total over seven kgs and purchase of gold ornaments from showrooms at Vijayawada.
Reddy came to the special attention of ACB officers when he purchased his 18th piece of land recently.
Officers who raided his house in Nellore City recovered documents of 18 plots which were registered in his name, his wife, and relatives. The officials also recovered Rs 7.70 lakh cash and Rs 20 lakhs in his bank accounts, gold ornaments weighing two kgs, deposits in LIC of over Rs one crore and over 50 acres of agricultural land. All the residential plots he had purchased were of over 250 sq yards.
“Narasimha Reddy had joined government service on October 22, 1984 as an attendant for a salary of Rs 650 per month and has been working for the last 34 years in the same Office of Deputy Transport Commissioner, Nellore. He also worked as a tout and anyone who wanted to get some work done in the department had to grease his palms. No file would move without his acquiesce. He refused promotions as he was making a lot of money in the form of bribes as an attendant,’’ an official said.
Officials said Reddy started purchasing plots in Nellore Rural Mandal since 1992 and in the last ten years, he had amassed gold and silver ornaments. He lives in a 3,300 square feet two-storey plus penthouse building at M V Agraharam in Nellore city. The market value of the 18 residential plots and over 50 acres of agricultural land could be over Rs 10 crores, officials estimated.