Building collapse: Tax inspector of GHMC, aide held

HYDERABAD: Four days after a multi-storied under-construction building collapsed at Nanakramguda and took 11 lives, two civic officials were arrested on Monday for turning a blind eye and allowing the illegal structure to come up.
The Cyberabad police arrested former Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Circle XI (Serlingampally Zone) tax inspector Sanjai Kumar and `munshi' (chain man) B Narahari for being hand-in-glove with the illegal structure owner Satyanarayan Singh.
The tax inspector reportedly collected bribe at a cafe.In the past, Sanjai reportedly took the responsibility of being Singh's point man at the GHMC office for hassle-free construction of his illegal structure. “The Singh family agreed to pay `5 lakh to Sanjai for the illegal structure. Of the agreed amount, `1.10 lakh bribe was already paid in two instalments. The rest was not paid as Sanjai was suspended after he was nabbed by the Cyberabad police for participating in a mujra dance,“ a Cyberabad police officer told TOI.
Police are looking for other erring officials of the corporation. They suspect that the bribe, distributed to government officials, might run into several lakhs. Police said Anil Kumar Singh, son of Satyanarayana , used to pay bribe to the government officials at the behest of his father . Narahari also saw the illegal structure, but he was reportedly intimidated by Singh, who claimed that he was an influential person and could speak to top officers in GHMC. On questioning, Satyanarayana denied paying bribe to any GHMC official and said that he was ignorant of the location of the local GHMC office.