ACB to seek prosecution of tainted IAS
HYDERABAD: Tightening the noose around conferred IAS officer K Harshavardhan, who was found to be in possession of disproportionate assets worth Rs 8 crore (the market value is much higher) by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in a raid in November 2009, the watchdog agency is all set to send a detailed report to the government in the next 15 days.
The report will mention the evidences gathered against the babu and the investigation that went into it. The ACB officials will seek permission from the government to prosecute Harshavardhan, who was recently posted as joint collector, Nizamabad.
Government sources told that they received an explanation from Harshavardhan in which he explained how he purchased the movable and immovable properties.
The ACB officials are now probing the assets which were on the name of his wife Dhana Lakshmi, who works as under secretary in NIRD, Rajendranagar. She hails from Tamil Nadu. 'The investigation against Harshavardhan is in the final stages. We are finalising the report which will be sent to the government in the next 15 days,' said an ACB official.
The ACB had carried out simultaneous raids on the residences of Harshavardhan in Hyderabad, Guntur and Eluru on November 12, 2009, while he was serving as special officer of the Urban Land Ceiling department in Guntur.
His assets include five flats in Hyderabad alone -- two each in Mehdipatnam and Secunderabad and one in Banjara Hills besides a palatial bungalow in the Ambience Fort gated community at Attapur, 32 acres agricultural land in West Godavari, three acres in Salem, Tamil Nadu (which is on his wife Dhana Lakshmi's name) and one acre in Bommalaramaram in Rangareddy district.
The sleuths found 80 tola gold ornaments, household articles worth Rs 9 lakh besides a Hyundai Accent car. Interestingly, the ACB officials also seized two deer skins from his bungalow and a report was sent to the forest department as the possession of deer skin is illegal under the Wildlife Act.
'There is strong evidence against him and all details are being correlated and being sent to the government while seeking permission to file a charge sheet and prosecute him,' sources said. Harshavardhan was arrested and suspended after the raid. The suspension was revoked in March. He was conferred IAS along with 10 other officers a little later.
News Posted: 19 May, 2011
|
