Vigilance panel names 13 most corrupt officials in Andhra

The Central Vigilance Commi-ssion (CVC) named "13 most corrupt officers" employed in various units of the Nizam Sugar Factory Ltd (NSF) who bought real estate worth millions of rupees with the money they embezzled from the public sector company.

It also asked the NSF management not to offer them benefits under the state government's voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).

It named four general managers, two chief engineers and officers working in the materials, civil, electrical and personnel departments and two chief chemists in its letter to the government.

Three of the general managers are still working in NSF units. The CVC said one general manager was so corrupt he was called the 'Collection King'.

A second general manager, it said, was the reason for NSF making losses caused by the huge purchases he made for monetary gain while he held a responsible position at the NSF headquarters.

A third general manager, currently heading an NSF unit, purchased large amounts of materials and was responsible for changing the boiler tubes at an NSF unit in the Telangana area every year in order to get a commission.

The fourth general manager was accused of being involved in another scam which was investigated by a House Committee set up by the state Assembly. It said of him: "wherever he was posted there was confusion, labour unrest, revolution and low recovery of sugar."

One of the two chief engineers was held responsible for the collapse of some cooling towers caused by the lack of proper maintenance and accused him of "making large-scale purchases in two NSF units".

The second chief engineer was also charged with making large purchases for a commission. Two managers in the materials department were accused of taking out big quantities of scrap. One chief chemist piled up large stocks of 'dirty' sugar in a warehouse and sold it.

The state government's Vigil-ance and Enforcement, meanwhile, also handed over a detailed investigation into the illegal alienation of assigned lands in certain areas of Guntur after one case was detected recently in which 278.68 acres of land was sold by the original assignees with the help of mandal revenue officers and a deputy tehsildar.

The land sale was detected when Enforcement authorities checked various official records pertaining to the assignment of 2,000 acres between 1970 and 1985 at Gangadipalem village in Guntur district.

In a second case, investigators detected cases of crop loans given on the basis of fake 'pattadar' passbooks submitted by farmers in the Kinnerawada and Cheedipudi villages, Srikakulam district.

They said the loans were given by the Cheedipudi branch of the Andhra Bank and the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society in Achutapuram village of the Jalumuru mandal. The investigators said some of the 'pattadar' passbooks and title deeds were fake.