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There was a stir in the administrative and political circles of Telangana when a sensational corruption case came to light within the Secretariat complex, considered to be the most secure administrative center of the state. Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials, in a major and secret operation, caught a section officer posted in the Secretariat red-handed while accepting a huge bribe of Rs 1 lakh from near the temple located in the premises. This sensational incident has raised serious questions on administrative integrity and honesty not only in the government department but also among the general public. The accused officer has been identified as Vinod, who was caught by the ACB team along with an outsourcing employee named Raghavendra while they were carrying out the illegal bribe money transaction. Chief Minister A. The emergence of such an incident amid claims of the Revanth Reddy-led government consistently adopting a zero-tolerance policy against corruption in the state proves how some corrupt officials are not desisting from flouting the system.
According to the information received, this entire matter is related to the speedy execution of very sensitive cases and pending files related to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund i.e. CMRF. The scheme of Chief Minister’s Relief Fund proves to be a lifeline for the poor, needy and patients suffering from serious diseases of the state who are waiting for financial help for their treatment. The ACB team had become completely alert after continuously receiving confidential complaints about bribes being demanded in exchange for passing files related to such cases. It is alleged that the accused Section Officer Vinod had demanded a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from the victim in the name of forwarding the stalled files related to CMRF and getting them approved. When continuous mental and administrative pressure was created to get the file passed, the victim made a strong complaint about this directly to the higher officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, after which the ACB prepared its action plan and successfully carried out this well-planned trap.
When the special team of ACB, working on zero-tolerance policy against corruption, got concrete clues about the actions of the accused officer, they without wasting time made a precise strategy. ACB officials were keeping a close watch on the actions and activities of the accused for the last few days. Surprisingly, accused section officer Vinod chose the holy place of the temple inside the secretariat complex for the transaction of bribe money. Perhaps it might have been a devious conspiracy of the accused that due to the movement of people around the temple and the religious atmosphere, no one would pay attention to them and they would be able to easily carry out this illegal game. However, the brave officers of ACB, aware of these vicious methods of corruption, had taken up their positions long ago. As soon as the accused along with Raghavendra completed this cash transaction, the ACB team deployed in plain clothes caught both of them on the spot in the blink of an eye and did not give them any chance to escape.
During this quick and bold action of ACB, there was an atmosphere of chaos in the Secretariat premises for some time. In the presence of independent witnesses and following legal formalities, the ACB team recovered cash worth Rs 1 lakh taken as bribe from the accused. Thereafter both the accused, Vinod and Raghavendra, were immediately taken into custody and the paperwork was completed and a formal case was registered under the relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. After completing the initial legal process on the spot, the ACB officials took both the accused straight to the ACB head office in Nampally for further thorough interrogation and legal formalities. After this high-profile arrest, there is a stir among other employees and officers of the Secretariat who may be involved in such illegal activities.
Both the accused are being interrogated for a long time at the ACB office in Nampally and the investigating agencies are trying to find out whether this case was limited to only one person or whether there was a huge organized network of corruption operating within the secretariat behind it. To get to the bottom of this racket of looting the due money of the poor in the guise of processing CMRF applications and files, ACB is going through every file and document on which these accused had worked in the last few months. Further, the role of the outsourcing employee Raghavendra is also being investigated in depth to clarify whether he was merely a pawn in this entire game or whether he was the main middleman in this network of illegal extortion. Highly placed sources of ACB have indicated that as the scope of investigation in this case progresses, many more shocking revelations may come to light and some more major arrests in this case cannot be ruled out.
Chief Minister A. The Revanth Reddy-led Telangana government, ever since assuming power, has pledged to make the state’s administrative system completely transparent, accountable and corruption-free. There are clear instructions from the government that the general public or the needy should not have to become victims of any kind of exploitation or bribery in government offices for their own rights. Under this policy, ACB has been given complete freedom to take the strictest legal action in corruption cases without any external pressure. The occurrence of such an incident in a highly sensitive and supreme administrative center like the Secretariat underlines that there are still some elements active within the administrative machinery which are creating obstacles in the way of government reforms and good governance. The swift action of the ACB in this case and the process of presenting it in the special court gives the message that there is no safe place left for the corrupt in the state. After investigating this matter in the coming days, the state government can take some more stringent and corrective steps at the administrative level so that recurrence of such incidents in future can be completely prevented.