The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has taken former HMDA director, Shiva Balakrishna, into custody. ACB officials went to Chanchalguda jail on Wednesday morning and took him into custody. He was then transferred from Chanchalguda Jail to the Banjara Hills ACB office. Before that, he underwent a medical examination in the jail.
The ACB court has ordered that Shiva Balakrishna be kept in judicial remand for 14 days. The Nampally court granted the ACB officials’ request to keep him in custody for 10 days. The court approved the remand for eight days. ACB officials arrived at Chanchalguda jail early today to take Balakrishna into custody. They discovered that he has four accounts in SBI Bank, so it is likely that the ACB will open his bank lockers.
Five days ago, ACB officers conducted searches at the residences and offices of Shiva Balakrishna, who is the former director of HMDA and the current RERA secretary, as well as his relatives. Divided into eight teams, the officials conducted searches at 17 locations across the state starting from 5 am on the 24th. These searches were conducted due to allegations of amassing assets beyond his income. The inspections also included his residence in Manikonda and the HMDA office in Ameerpet. Shiva Balakrishna held a key position in HMDA’s planning department from 2018 to 2023.
The ACB officials took action based on allegations of illegally accumulating crores of rupees in assets through abuse of power and recent complaints against him. During a search at his house in Manikonda, ACB officials, under the guidance of the Joint Director of ACB, seized more than ten iPhones, 50 expensive watches, bundles of cash, 5 kg of gold jewelry, and land documents related to 70 acres.
