'Crorepati' environmental engineer arrested in graft case

Anti-Corruption Bureau today arrested a senior official of Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) for owning assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Sleuths of the anti-graft agency conducted raids at the offices and other premises of Korukonda Ramesh, Senior Environmental Engineer (Task Force) of the Board, and claimed to have recovered documents showing he had amassed assets worth Rs 7 crore, ACB officials said.
Ramesh had five coastal districts, including West Godavari, Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam, under his jurisdiction.
The sleuths, led by DySP (Visakhapatnam) M Narasimha Rao, conducted simultaneous raids at 10 places across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and seized documents detailing movable and immovable properties owned by him, they said.

The raids were carried out in Visakhapatnam, Ponduru, Srikakulam, Kothagudem and Palwancha among other places.
Ramesh joined APPCB around 26 years ago as a junior engineer and worked in various capacities in Hyderabad, Vizag and Kothagudem before reaching to the current position.

The documents showed Ramesh owned three apartments in the city, 10 house plots in Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam and Ponduru besides 10 acres of agriculture land at various places, Rao said.
Ramesh has a bank balance of Rs 9.1 lakh and another Rs 9 lakh in a GPF account. The ACB also seized 2.9 kg of sliver, 170 gm of gold ornaments and Rs 36,000 in cash from Ramesh's residence at Srinagar area here, he said.

Ramesh, a native of Ponduru in Srikakulam district, has two bank lockers in Kothagudem, which are likely to be opened tomorrow. The engineer will be produced before the Special ACB Court here tomorrow for remand.