The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted raids at various places in Hyderabad in relation to its case against the sheep-rearing and distribution scam in Telangana. The raids were associated with a money laundering investigation based on the Sheep Rearing Development Scheme (SRDS), which was initiated by the former Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in April 2017 with the aim of offering shepherd families sustainable livelihoods.
The senior officials also confirmed that the recent searches were conducted across at least eight premises linked to the beneficiaries and alleged middlemen, with that of G. Kalyan, Officer on Special Duty to former minister of the ruling BRS party, Talasani Srinivasa Yadav, being one of them. The exercise was carried out in the section of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and it is grounded on an FIR filed by Telangana Police Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in December 2023. In February 2024, four government officers were arrested in relation to the case by the ACB.
Although the FIR estimated the “proceeds of crime” to be only 2.1 crore rupees, a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report showed much bigger irregularities. The fake invoices, duplicate tags of the sheep units, and allotments to dead or non-present beneficiaries were found during the audit. In the CAG report, including seven districts, it was estimated to have lost 253.93 crore, but ED officials estimate it at more than 1000 crore when applied to the 33 districts.
The financial irregularities that the agency is investigating are: mismanagement of transportation billing invoices and improper beneficiary records. The investigation will also focus on establishing the scale of the fraud and the effect it has on state finances. Evidence gathered in these raids is supposed to be used by the ED in further action.
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