Thai wedding, 19 plots, 4 flats: Telangana engineer arrested in graft case

Raids by Anti-Corruption Bureau reveal Telangana irrigation engineer's lavish lifestyle: luxury villa, hotel stakes, crores in cash, gold, and land linked to alleged corruption

An executive engineer in Telangana’s Irrigation and Command Area Development Department, Nune Sridhar, has been arrested after the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) unearthed assets worth several crores allegedly disproportionate to his known sources of income. The officer was arrested following searches at 13 locations linked to him and his relatives.

 

According to the ACB, Sridhar, who served in Division number 8, SRSP Camp, Choppadandi, Karimnagar, is accused of acquiring properties through “unlawful practices and dubious means”. The searches revealed a sprawling web of assets, including luxury real estate and lavish personal expenses.

 

Telangana Engineer's lavish lifestyle under scrutiny

Among the most talked-about discoveries was a destination wedding hosted by Sridhar in Thailand for his son, on which he reportedly spent crores. Authorities also traced a high-end 4,500 sq ft flat in Sky High, a luxury residential complex in Shaikpet, Hyderabad, in addition to at least three other flats in Karimnagar.

 

 

Sridhar is also alleged to own a villa in Tellapur near Hyderabad, three independent buildings in Hyderabad, Warangal, and Karimnagar, 19 prime residential plots in these cities, and 16 acres of agricultural land. Commercial space at Ameerpet, stakes in several hotels in Karimnagar, two four-wheelers, gold jewellery, and significant bank deposits were also found during the searches.

NDTV quoted an ACB official as saying, “Financial documents, property papers, and transaction records are being examined for links to potential benami holdings and corruption in irrigation contracts.”   

 

  The ACB confirmed Sridhar’s arrest, and he has been sent to judicial remand. The market value of the properties is expected to be much higher than the registered value. Further investigations are ongoing.

 

Links to Kaleshwaram project

  Sridhar has also been involved in the controversial Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, touted as the world’s largest multi-stage lift irrigation initiative. The project has faced persistent allegations of irregularities and corruption.

 

The former chief minister of Telangana and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief K Chandrashekar Rao has also been summoned by the PC Ghose Commission, which is investigating alleged violations in the project’s execution. These corruption allegations had featured prominently during the 2023 Assembly election campaigns. The BRS, however, has denied all wrongdoing, asserting that the project was implemented in the public interest.

 

[With agency inputs]