Andhra public service commission member arrested

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) member K. Ripunjaya Reddy after raids on his house and that of his friends and relatives led to unearthing of disproportionate assets worth Rs.4 crore, officials said Thursday.

The anti-graft agency picked up Ripunjaya late Wednesday, making him the first APPSC member to have been arrested for amassing alleged illegal assets. He will be produced before the court dealing with ACB cases Thursday.

The arrest of the APPSC member followed day-long raids on his residence and that of his close friend K. Suryanarayana Reddy alias Sureedu, and relatives, officials said.

Both Ripunajaya and Sureedu were close aides of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy alias YSR. Ripunjaya was YSR's personal assistant from 2004 to 2008. He was appointed APPSC member, a constitutional post, in 2008.

Sureedu served as YSR's personal aide till the latter's death in a helicopter crash in 2009.

ACB officials conducted simultaneous raids on the properties of Sureedu, Ripunjay and their relatives in Hyderabad and Kadapa.

The raids on Sureedu's house were conducted on the suspicion that Ripunjaya owns assets in the name of his close friend. Sureedu, considered YSR's 'Man Friday,' was away in Kadapa at the time of the raids. The ACB has not ruled out questioning him in the case.

The ACB launched a crackdown on the APPSC member after allegations that he amassed illegal assets worth over Rs.100 crore.

ACB officials said the raids yielded unearthing of assets worth Rs.4 crore in the name of Ripunjaya and his family members. They include 63 'tolas' of gold, two cars, houses, apartments and lands in and around Hyderabad, Tirupati, Kadapa and other places.

Sureedu initially turned a witness against YSR's son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy in an illegal assets case but later refused to record his statement before a magistrate.