The Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau has unearthed its biggest-ever disproportionate assets case in its history. ACB officials carried out surprise raids on the residences, offices, and relatives’ homes of Muthyam Venkata Ramana, Divisional Engineer (DE) at the Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation. These raids uncovered illegal assets worth ₹400 crore. After registering a case of assets disproportionate to known income, officials conducted simultaneous searches and seized large amounts of cash, gold, luxury buildings, flats, and key evidence relating to benami companies.
Under the supervision of ACB City Range-2 DSP Majid Ali Khan, simultaneous raids were carried out across seven locations, including Serilingampally, Kukatpally, and Moosapet. During these raids, officials seized documents relating to a G+3 commercial building in Anjaneya Nagar, Kukatpally, a G+5 commercial building in Guttala Begumpet, and four expensive flats within the Serilingampally and Kukatpally jurisdictions.
In addition, ACB’s preliminary investigation revealed that he had set up four construction firms in his wife’s name and built 10 multi-storey apartments in the Kukatpally and Moosapet areas at an estimated cost of ₹20 crore. During the investigation, officials seized a bank balance of ₹52 lakh, 2.09 kg of gold jewelry, cars worth ₹45 lakh including Kia, Mahindra, and Baleno vehicles, and household goods worth ₹30 lakh. In addition, 20 bottles of foreign liquor worth ₹2.5 lakh were also seized.
Previously, in 2019, the largest case registered by the ACB was against former IMS Director Devika Rani in the ESI medicine procurement scam, where official assets worth ₹25.70 crore were identified. However, in the current raids, the value of Venkata Ramana’s official assets as calculated by the ACB stands at ₹27.65 crore, while their market value exceeds ₹400 crore altogether. This makes Venkata Ramana the biggest corruption “whale” ever recorded in the history of the state ACB.
Venkata Ramana had also engaged in serious corrupt practices earlier, during his tenure as DE in the Cyber City Circle of the Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana (TSSPDCL). On December 12, 2019, he was caught red-handed by the ACB while accepting a bribe of ₹25,000 for approving a contractor’s bills, and was sent to jail as a result. During raids conducted at his residence at that time, the ACB had identified assets worth ₹28.14 crore.
Even after being released on bail from jail, he did not change his conduct. Leveraging political and administrative influence, he secured a key posting as DE at REDCO on deputation. From the time he joined there, he resumed his corrupt practices, amassing illegal assets on a large scale in the names of benami associates. Following this, officials have now arrested him and produced him before the ACB Special Court in Nampally. He is expected to be sought in custody for further investigation.