Hyderabad: The Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has begun interrogating Nikesh Kumar, an Assistant Executive Engineer in the Irrigation Department, who was arrested earlier this month in connection with a case involving disproportionate assets. Following a court’s decision to grant the ACB custody of the official for four days, he was taken from Chanchalguda prison to the ACB office in Nampally for questioning.
ACB officials discovered assets worth Rs 17.73 crore owned by Nikesh Kumar and his family, which were disproportionate to his known income. Among his assets are a villa, a flat, several plots, agricultural land, and gold jewelry totaling 1.5 kg found in a bank locker. The overall market value of his assets is estimated to exceed Rs 100 crore.
Having joined the department a decade ago, Nikesh Kumar is alleged to have earned around Rs 2 lakh daily through corrupt practices, shocking ACB officials with the extent of his disproportionate wealth. During the questioning, the ACB aims to uncover further details about this high-profile case and determine if he served as a ‘benami’ for someone else.
Earlier, Nikesh was caught by ACB operatives in May when he solicited and accepted a bribe of Rs 2 lakh, along with three other officials from the irrigation and revenue departments. The bulk of his illicit earnings reportedly stemmed from issuing No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for building permits through the TG-bPASS portal.
This case marks the second-largest asset seizure by the ACB following the arrests of former Insurance Medical Services director Ch Devika Rani in 2019 and HMDA (Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority) Town Planning Director Shiva Balakrishna earlier this year. Devika had Rs 30 crore in disproportionate assets seized, while Balakrishna had unregistered properties worth Rs 9 crore, with the actual market value of all these assets potentially reaching hundreds of crores.