Visakhapatnam: Planning officer held in assets case

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) cops unearthed disproportionate assets to the tune of around 8 crore held by Vardhanapu Sobhan Babu (55), a planning officer in Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) on Wednesday. The ACB cops found that the accused officer acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, and a case has been registered against him.
ACB officials said the assets unearthed were worth 2.7 crore as per the government value, but would be worth around 8 crore as per the market value.
According to ACB cops, the raids were conducted in the office and the house of the planning officer at Lawson’s Bay Colony, besides other properties, simultaneously.
Sobhan Babu of Penumanchi village in Achanta mandal of West Godavari district joined the department in 1987 as a town planning and building overseer. He was promoted to town planning supervisor in 1997, and elevated as town planning officer (TPO) in 2009. He was again promoted as assistant director in 2015. He has been working as a planning officer in VMRDA since 2019.
During the course of the raids, it was revealed that Sobhan Babu and his family members are in possession of three flats, a vacant site, mango plantation in 90 cents, one four-wheeler, one two-wheeler, electrical gadgets, gold ornaments, bank balances, cash, and others.
Sobhan Babu was arrested and produced before the special judge for the trial of SPE and ACB cases in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday and further investigation into the case is in progress.