The investigating team of the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), today, have conducted a series of raids on the assets of Andhra Pradesh Roads and Buidings (R&B) Chief Engineer, Gangadharam.
Gangadharam's properties and his relative’s houses, all at a time are being probed.
The Chief Engineer, is alleged to have a main role in the illegalities, during the laying of four-way road in Bheemili near Visakhapatnam.
The R&B department has been given the responsibility of expanding the existing Vizag-Bheemili stretch of 9.6 kilometers between Ramadri and Bheemili at a cost of Rs 65 crore.
Till March 2016, the department has spent nearly Rs 12 crore to complete up to five kilometers from Ramadri to Vizag.
Minister of Infrastructure and Investment, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, on February 15, 2014, laid the foundation stone for the project. But, the project was canceled within a short period due to various reasons.
The government, later came up with a new project and signed agreements with the R&B department on August 5, 2015 to complete the work by February 4, 2017.
The total stretch of the Vizag-Bheemili road is about 26 kilometers, of which the R&B department will be developing the road from Ramadri to Bheemili.
The road up to Ramadri from Vizag is already a four-lane, covering the famous tourist places, Fishing Harbour, RK Beach, Park Hotel, Appu Ghar, Kailasagiri, Visalakshinagar, Sagar Nagar, Gitam University and Rushikonda, between Vizag and Bheemili.
The expansion of the Vizag-Bheemili road facilitates the tourism department.
Simultaneously, the raids are being conducted at 20 locations, in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bangalore, Kadapa, Nellore, Chittoor, Visakhapatnam cities. And this is said to be one of the major raids in the recent times.
The properties of Gangadharam would be over 100 Crore, according to media reports.
By far, no official announcement has been made. The raids are still continuing, and the illegal assets count is expected to increase.
At the same time, the raids are also being conducted on contractor Visweswara Rao’s properties. The contractor, was allegedly acting to be Gangadharam's benami.
Visweswara Rao professed that he was innocent and alleged that someone had wrongly involved him in the issue. He further stated that he neither has direct nor indirect transactions with Gangadharam.
The contractor claimed that he was not benami to anyone and said that his relationship with Gangadharam was limited to the office and contracts.
(Video Source: NTV Telugu)
By Supraja
