ED attaches GHMC official’s properties worth ₹5.15 crore in disproportionate assets case

The Directorate of Enforcement Hyderabad Zonal Office has provisionally attached 19 immovable properties valued at ₹5.15 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, in connection with a disproportionate assets case involving a Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation official.

The properties belong to Dacha Janardhan Mahesh, a Town Planning Section Officer with the GHMC in Secunderabad, and his family members. The attached assets include plots of land, shops, flats and residential premises.

The ED initiated the investigation based on a case registered by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) Hyderabad under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The ACB later filed a chargesheet before a special court in Hyderabad, stating that Mahesh was found to be in possession of assets disproportionate to his and his family’s known sources of income to the tune of about ₹5.27 crore.

According to the ED, its investigation revealed that Mahesh allegedly acquired several immovable properties using proceeds of crime, with sale considerations paid in cash. The agency said cash deposits were routed through the bank accounts of Mahesh and his family members to project the assets as legitimate, and that the funds were also used for personal expenditure.

The ED further stated that proceeds of crime were utilised for the development and construction of a project named Shree Indira Sadan with the assistance of Mahesh’s cousin K. B. Laxminarayana, a partner of M/s Maheshwari Constructions.

Further investigation is under progress.