Andhra ACB Chief shunted our: New boss is PSR

Visakhapatnam: Senior IPS officer P Sitharama Anjaneyulu will take over as the Director-General of Anti-Corruption Bureau of Andhra Pradesh, replacing Kumar Vishwajeet.

The change comes two days after Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed his displeasure at the lacklustre performance of the ACB. He had directed ACB officers to ensure effective results within three months.

A 1992-batch officer, Sitharama Anjaneyulu was the transport commissioner. In his new job, he will also hold full additional charge of the Secretary, Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC).

In an official statement, the AP government said Kumar Vishwajeet, a 1994-batch IPS officer, has been directed to report to the Director-General of Police at Mangalagiri.

Senior IAS officer M Tirumala Krishna Babu, principal secretary to the government, Transport, Roads and Buildings departments has been given the additional charge of the transport commissioner for the time being.

Upset over the ACB’s performance in 2019, Jagan had asked the state's anti-graft officers to ensure that no one fell prey to bribery. He had asked the ACB to be proactive to curb corruption in various government departments, particularly Revenue, Stamps and Registration and Town Planning. The CM had said that people have to cough up bribes for services like pattadar passbook and registration of their properties.

According to ACB data, the Revenue department topped its list of corruption among departments in 2019. Of the 96 traps set by it last year, 36 were against revenue officials, including VRO and tehsildars. The ACB also registered 23 disproportionate assets cases in 2019.