Telangana ACB arrests Lands official, unearths ₹13 crore in assets
Synopsis
Telangana's ACB has arrested a senior Lands and Surveys official after raids on 10 premises turned up ₹13.05 crore in assets — cash, fixed deposits, gold, silver, and a real estate portfolio spanning Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy. The arrest follows last week's detention of an R&B Engineer-in-Chief whose assets are estimated at nearly ₹200 crore at market value, marking an accelerating anti-corruption push in the state.
Key Takeaways
Sunkari Narahari , Deputy Director of Lands and Surveys (Multi Zone-2), was arrested by Telangana ACB on 16 June in a disproportionate assets case.
Searches across 10 premises uncovered total assets of ₹13.05 crore , including ₹1.54 crore cash, ₹5.04 crore in fixed deposits, and 1.3 kg of gold.
Immovable properties detected include flats in Puppalaguda and Rajendra Nagar , plots in Ranga Reddy , agricultural land at Maheshwaram , and two buildings in Gachibowli and Chatrinaka .
Two bank lockers in the accused's wife's name are yet to be opened; further asset verification is ongoing.
The arrest follows the 9 June detention of R&B Engineer-in-Chief Mohan Naik , whose assets carry an estimated market value of nearly ₹200 crore .
Telangana's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday, 16 June arrested Sunkari Narahari, Deputy Director of Lands and Surveys (Multi Zone-2), in a disproportionate assets case after searches across 10 premises in Hyderabad and surrounding areas uncovered assets valued at ₹13.05 crore, including ₹1.54 crore in cash. The ACB alleged that Narahari acquired the wealth through corrupt practices and means beyond his known government salary.
What the Raids Uncovered
ACB teams searched Narahari's residence and nine other locations linked to his relatives, associates, and alleged benamis. At his home, investigators found ₹1.54 crore in cash, bank balances of ₹2.29 crore, fixed deposits worth ₹5.04 crore, gold ornaments weighing approximately 1.3 kg, and 8 kg of silver. A KIA Carens Smartstream car was also seized. Two bank lockers registered in the name of the accused's wife were detected and are to be opened during further investigation.
Immovable Properties Detected
Documents recovered point to a substantial real estate portfolio. These include five open plots in Ranga Reddy district, 1.24 acres of agricultural land at Maheshwaram, a 2,500 sq ft residential flat in a high-rise at Puppalaguda, two flats each measuring 1,377 sq ft in a high-rise at Rajendra Nagar, a G+3 building at TNGOs Colony, Gachibowli, and a G+2 residential building at Chatrinaka. The ACB noted that the market value of these immovable properties is expected to be significantly higher than their document value.
Legal Proceedings
Narahari is being produced before the Principal Special Judge for SPE and ACB cases at Nampally for judicial remand. The ACB confirmed that verification of additional assets is ongoing and the case remains under active investigation.
Pattern of ACB Action in Telangana
This arrest comes just one week after the ACB detained Mohan Naik, Engineer-in-Chief of the Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department, in a separate disproportionate assets case. Searches conducted on 9 June at premises linked to Naik and his relatives revealed assets with an official document value of approximately ₹17.95 crore, though their estimated market value stands at nearly ₹200 crore. A court subsequently sent Naik to judicial custody for 14 days. The back-to-back high-profile arrests signal an intensified anti-corruption drive by the Telangana ACB targeting senior government officials across departments.
Point of View
Another the Engineer-in-Chief of Roads and Buildings — suggests the ACB is targeting departments historically associated with high-value approvals and land transactions. The gap between document value and market value in both cases (most starkly, ₹17.95 crore on paper versus nearly ₹200 crore for Mohan Naik) points to a systemic under-declaration problem that document raids alone cannot fix. The real accountability test will be whether prosecutions reach conviction, not just remand — a stage at which Indian anti-corruption cases have a notoriously poor track record.
NationPress
2 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Sunkari Narahari and why was he arrested?
Sunkari Narahari is the Deputy Director of Lands and Surveys (Multi Zone-2) in Telangana. He was arrested on 16 June by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on charges of accumulating assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, after searches across 10 premises uncovered assets worth ₹13.05 crore.
What assets were found during the ACB raids?
Investigators found ₹1.54 crore in cash, bank balances of ₹2.29 crore, fixed deposits of ₹5.04 crore, approximately 1.3 kg of gold, 8 kg of silver, and a KIA Carens car. Documents linked to multiple plots, flats, and buildings across Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district were also recovered.
What happens next in the case against Narahari?
Narahari is being produced before the Principal Special Judge for SPE and ACB cases at Nampally for judicial remand. Two bank lockers in his wife's name are yet to be opened, and the ACB has said verification of additional assets is still underway.
Is this part of a broader ACB crackdown in Telangana?
Yes. Just one week earlier, on 9 June, the ACB arrested Mohan Naik, Engineer-in-Chief of the Roads and Buildings Department, in a similar disproportionate assets case. Assets linked to Naik carry a document value of ₹17.95 crore but an estimated market value of nearly ₹200 crore. The two high-profile arrests within days of each other indicate a stepped-up anti-corruption drive.
What is a disproportionate assets case under Indian law?
A disproportionate assets case is filed when a public servant is found to possess wealth that cannot be explained by their legitimate income. Under the Prevention of Corruption Act, such possession is a criminal offence, and the burden shifts to the accused to account for the source of the assets.
