Vijayawada, November 13: Probably for the first time in the State and after the enactment of the Anti-Ragging Act, a local court on Thursday sentenced three students to one-year imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on each in a ragging case dating back to 2007.
First Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate MR Satyanarayana delivered the judgement.
The trio, Nella Venkatachalapathi, M Suresh anHYDERABAD: Just three days after the Centre gave its nod for his elevation into the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), a special officer of the Urban Land Ceiling Department in Guntur district was caught by the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) for possessing assets worth more than Rs eight crore quite disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The officer in question, K Harshavardhan, was found to have invested heavily on flats and house sites in different parts of the State and in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
The Union Government had cleared the file designating him as a civil services officer on November 9. The State Government is yet to issue a counter order (GO) conferring IAS on him.
Acting on specific complaints that Harshavardhan had amassed wealth illegally, sleuths of the ACB conducted discreet inquiries before raiding his houses in Hyderabad, Guntur and Eluru on Thursday.
They also searched his office and found several documents pertaining to his assets. ‘‘The market value of his assets is around Rs 7-8 crore,’’ ACB Joint Director, Hyderabad city, Akun Sabarwal said. Harshavardhan stays in a palatial bungalow in the Ambience Fort gated-community at Attapur near Rajendranagar.
According to the ACB, he has five flats in the city alone –– two each in Mehdipatnam and Secunderabad and one in Banjara Hills. He owns a 32-acre agricultural plot in T Narsapuram mandal of West Godavari district and one acre in Bommalaramaram mandal, Ranga Reddy district.
‘‘Harshavardhan is married to Dhana Lakshmi, who hails from Salem in Tamil Nadu. He had also brought a three-acre plot in his wife’s native village. Dhana Lakshmi works as an under-secretary in NIRD, Rajendranagar,’’ Akun Sabarwal said.
Further, the special officer has four house sites in various layouts and resorts in the city, 80 tola gold ornaments and household articles worth Rs 8-9 lakh besides a Hyundai Accent car and a two-wheeler.
’’We are yet to open his bank lockers and check his bank details and financial documents,‘‘ the ACB Joint Director said. ’’During the searches, we have seized two deer skins from his house. The Forest Department has been informed of the same. They will take appropriate action,’’ Akun Sabarwal said.
Harshavardhan joined government service as a Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) in 1993. ‘‘Harshavardhan worked in the city for the most part of his service. He worked in the then Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH), and as RDO of Secunderabad and Chevella and also as a personal secretary to Minister M Mukesh Goud for some time,’’ Akun Sabarwal said.
d Ch Ramprakash, –– all final year MBBS students of the Siddhartha Medical College –– were convicted of harassing two first-year BDS students, Tota Roser Paul and G Satish Kumar, of the Government Dental College.
According to Senior Public Prosecutor Dommeti Satyanarayana, the three began harassing the two juniors on June 19, 2007. A final year BDS student Guttikonda Vamsi Krishna intervened a few days later and told the MBBS students to leave the juniors alone as they had to prepare for their internal exams.
Nursing a grudge against Vamsi Krishna, the trio pinned up a letter at his hostel room using the choicest of nasty words –– the medicos and BDS students share the same hostel on the Siddhartha Medical College premises.
Vamsi Krishna and the two ragging victims lodged a complaint with the Machavaram police on June 27, 2007.
–Agencies