From gold to luxury properties: ACB's ₹100–150 crore haul from Telangana engineer explained

Assets with an estimated market value of Rs 100–150 crore were unearthed during searches carried out by the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Wednesday in a disproportionate assets (DA) case against Mutyam Venkata Ramana, a Divisional Engineer of the Renewable Energy Development Corporation (REDCO). The ACB registered the DA case after gathering evidence that Ramana allegedly had much more wealth than he could have earned from his known sources of income.

Searches at Multiple Locations

The investigation was initiated under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act after the ACB gathered evidence indicating that he had amassed substantial wealth through corrupt practices during his service. Simultaneous searches were conducted at the engineer’s residence, his office in Khairatabad and seven other premises linked to relatives, associates and alleged benamidars, according to ACB officials. The assets include residential flats, commercial buildings, under-construction apartment projects, gold, bank deposits, vehicles and other valuables. 

Immovable property detected during the searches included four residential flats in Serilingampally and Kukatpally with an official registration value of Rs 1.23 crore, a G+3 commercial building spanning 160 square yards at Anjaneya Nagar, Kukatpally (official value Rs 1.82 crore), and a G+5 commercial building on 250 square yards at Guttala Begumpet in Serilingampally (official value Rs 2.90 crore), according to ACB investigations.

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Real estate investments and benami firms

Investigators said Ramana allegedly channelled significant investments into real estate and construction through four construction firms registered in his wife’s name. The ACB said the officer had developed 10 residential apartments currently under construction at Anjaneya Nagar and Moosapet, with estimated investments of about Rs 20 crore.

Cash, gold, bank deposits and vehicles seized

Apart from immovable assets, the ACB reported seizure of bank deposits totalling Rs 52.02 lakh, 2.094 kg of gold ornaments (estimated at around Rs 4 crore), three vehicles (Kia, Mahindra and Maruti Baleno) valued at about Rs 45 lakh, household articles and electronic gadgets worth Rs 30 lakh, and 20 bottles of liquor valued at approximately Rs 2.5 lakh. 

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Official and market valuations

The ACB placed the official value of detected assets so far at Rs 27.65 crore but said verification is ongoing to identify further properties and investments. Independent real estate experts, citing prevailing market rates, estimated the present market value of the discovered assets at roughly Rs 100–150 crore. 

Earlier bribery trap and ongoing probe

ACB records show Ramana was earlier caught in a trap operation on December 12, 2019, allegedly accepting a Rs 25,000 bribe while posted as Divisional Engineer (Technical) in the Office of the Superintending Engineer (Operations), Cyber City Circle. At that time, officials seized Rs 26.52 lakh in cash and gold ornaments worth Rs 22.60 lakh, and a charge sheet was filed.

Ramana will be produced before the Special Judge for SPE and ACB Cases in Hyderabad for judicial remand as investigations into financial transactions, benami holdings and additional investments continue.