M A I N   N E W S

CBI arrests top Andhra babu in Emaar scam
Suresh Dharur/TNS

Hyderabad, January 30
The CBI today arrested senior IAS officer and Andhra Pradesh Principal Home Secretary BP Acharya in a corruption case involving a real estate project under public-private partnership with a Dubai-based company.

Acharya, a 1983 batch IAS officer, has been booked on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and corruption in what has come to be known as ‘Emaar properties scam’.

The case pertains to large-scale irregularities in the allotment of land and sale of plots, luxury villas and apartments in a township on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The township near the IT hub, Gachibowli, has been jointly developed by the state-run AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), of which Acharya was the Managing Director between 2005 and 2009, and Dubai-based real estate giant Emaar.

The main allegation against the official is that he had played a key role in diluting the equity of APIIC in the project from the original 49 to 6 per cent, thereby benefiting the private developer and causing huge loss to the government.

Besides, the plots and villas, purchased by relatives of political bigwigs, film stars and leading businessmen, were grossly-undervalued in the documents causing a massive financial loss to the government.

The Emaar Hills Township Private Ltd (EHTPL) was floated as a joint venture company between the APIIC and Emaar, to build a luxury township, complete with villas, apartment complexes, hotel and golf course. The APICC had allotted 535 acres of prime land for the purpose.

CBI sleuths had questioned Acharya several times in the past. He was again summoned to appear before the investigating agency today.

After a brief grilling, the official was taken into custody and later produced before a special court, which ordered CBI custody till February 1.

The senior civil servant was the fourth person to be arrested in the Emaar case. Last week, the CBI arrested Sunil Reddy, a close aide of the YSR Congress Party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, on the charge that he had acted as a ‘conduit’ in the transfer of illegal money.

The irregularities in the project had taken place when late YS Rajasekhar Reddy was the Chief Minister. There are allegations that Jagan was one of the beneficiaries of the scam. Earlier, the CBI had arrested Koneru Prasad, an industrialist, and Veeraraghavan, a top official of Emaar group. The CBI is expected to file the chargesheet in the case on February 1.

Shady deal

• Principal Home Secretary BP Acharya has been booked on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and corruption
• The case pertains to large-scale irregularities in the allotment of land and sale of plots, luxury villas and apartments in a township, jointly developed by Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation - of which Acharya was the MD between 2005 and 2009 - and Dubai-based real estate giant Emaar
• The main allegation against Acharya is that he had played a key role in diluting the equity of APIIC in the project from the original 49 to 6 per cent, thereby benefiting the private developer and causing huge loss to the government.