Surprise checks were conducted in nine tehsildar offices, according to ACB Director General.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) conducted surprise checks at various government offices, particularly revenue-earning wings, in different districts of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, unearthing large-scale ''irregularities'' and ''unaccounted'' cash running into a few lakh rupees, official sources said.
The ACB raids were the first major action initiated pursuant to a study by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, the sources said, adding the drive will continue in the coming days.
The tehsildar offices, sub-registrar offices, and town- planning offices were identified as some of the main places of corruption in the state government and the recent study by the IIM-Ahmedabad had suggested stern measures to stem the rot.
Several private individuals were found to be working in some offices illicitly while certain others were allegedly acting as conduits of government staff for collecting illegal gratification, an official release from the ACB said.
In one tehsildar office at Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada, Rs 2.28 lakh of unaccounted cash was seized from the staff.
Surprise checks were conducted in nine tehsildar offices, four sub-registrar offices (Revenue Department) and a town- planning office (Municipal Administration Department), according to ACB Director General PSR Anjaneyulu.
No arrests have been made, though.
We will prepare relevant reports and submit to the government for necessary action on the irregularities found, PSR Anjaneyulu said.
In one tehsildar office at Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada, Rs 2.28 lakh of unaccounted cash was seized from the staff.
In another in Prakasam district, Rs 40,752 was seized while in Visakhapatnam district over Rs 27,000 was confiscated, according to the ACB release.
In the sub-registrar office at Piler in Chittoor district, a sum of Rs 7,79,840 was found with document writers and two private persons.
In East Godavari district, a sum of Rs 69,830 was confiscated during the surprise check at the Bikkavolu SRO.
In Kadapa, the sub-registrar was absent in her office but she engaged two private persons for collecting bribes and doing official work unauthorisedly. Unaccounted and inexplicable amount of Rs 30,790 was seized from the office staff, document writers and private persons, the ACB added.