Telangana Rera officer caught with assets worth Rs 100 crore including Rs 40 lakh cash, 70 acre land

A senior government official in Telangana, Shiva Balakrishna, has been trapped by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) with alleged assets worth Rs 100 crore. Balakrishna, currently serving as the secretary of Telangana State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) and planning officer of Hyderabad Metro Rail, is facing a case of disproportionate assets, a TOI report stated.

It is alleged that Balakrishna accrued the ill-gotten assets by allegedly facilitating permits for real estate companies in the state.

The ACB sleuths conducted searches on Balakrishna's houses and offices, leading to the discovery of illegal assets worth Rs 20 crore. These assets include a house in Puppalguda, a 70-acre farmland in districts, plots in Hyderabad and other places, Rs 40 lakh in cash, gold ornaments, wristwatches, and vehicles. The searches are still ongoing, with officials also examining bank lockers and other properties.


YVS Sudheendra, the joint director of Anti Corruption Bureau, revealed that 14 special teams carried out simultaneous searches at 17 differenent locations associated with the former HMDA official. Sudheendra stated, 'Acting on serious allegations against the accused official, we conducted the searches and found disproportionate assets with a documentary value of Rs 5 crore. The market value of these assets would be around Rs 20 crore.'

Balakrishna had previously worked in HMDA from 2018 to 2023, during which there were allegations of corruption against him. ACB officials have also discovered that most of the properties are held by 'benamis' of the accused official. The investigation is focusing on verifying if the property owners have proper records of income to justify their assets.

Balakrishna is scheduled to appear before the court on Thursday.