Crorepati panchayat officer raided, held

VIJAYWADA: The

Anti Corruption Bureau

(ACB) officials on Friday arrested Nellore

zilla parishad

CEO

Bobba Rami Reddy

for allegedly amassing properties worth crores of rupees through illegal means. Sources in

ACB

said the value of Reddy's assets was over `15 crore.

Simultaneous raids were conducted at 14 places in Nellore, Guntur, Tirupati and Hyderabad. According to a senior ACB official, Rami Reddy amassed this wealth through bribes. He is due to retire in March this year. Rami Reddy , who also officiates as the district panchayat raj officer, has reportedly extended loans of `50 lakh to some of his acquaintances.

ACB sleuths swooped down on his residence near children's park in Nellore around 6 am. Five of the properties are in Reddy's name, while four properties are in the name of his wife B Nagendramma and three in his son's name. “Our searches are still going on. As per preliminary inquiry , we found `2 crore worth unaccounted assets from the accused official. The actual value of the assets will be ascertained only after we complete the searches,“ ACB director general RP Thakur said.

Reddy has since been taken into custody. A disproportionate assets case will be filed against him after the search operations in Hyderabad. He will be produced before the ACB court.