Revenue officer in ACB net

Paderu: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials of Visakhapatnam Range on Wednesday caught ASR District Revenue Officer (FAC) Marothu Venkata Surya Lokeshwara Rao, red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 from a complainant at the RDO office in Paderu. According to the ACB, the case was registered based on a complaint lodged by Ammu Surya Chakravarthi, a Junior Assistant in the ASR District Collectorate.

The complainant alleged that the accused officer had demanded Rs 50,000 for extending official assistance in regularising his regular pay scale for 2024 and sanctioning pending annual increments. Acting on the complaint, ACB officials laid a trap at around 6 pm on Wednesday at the RDO office in Paderu. The officer was allegedly caught red-handed while demanding and accepting the bribe from the complainant. The ACB registered a case in Cr No 13/RCT-VSP/2026 under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as amended in 2018.

Lokeshwara Rao joined government service as an Excise Sub-Inspector in 2005 and was promoted as Excise Inspector in 2010. He subsequently moved to the Revenue Department and was appointed as a Deputy Tahsildar in 2017. He was promoted to Tahsildar in 2018 and worked at Gajuwaka and Padmanabham. In 2023, he was promoted to Deputy Collector and worked in the Collectorate and at Ongole until 2025.

From January 2025, he has been working as Special Deputy Collector (Tribal Welfare-Lands), ASR district, Paderu, and since April 2025, he has also been holding additional charge as District Revenue Officer (FAC), ASR district. The ACB appealed to the public to report any incidents of corruption in government departments to the concerned local ACB office, the toll-free number 1064, mobile number 9440440057 or email [email protected]. The identity of complainants and informers will be kept confidential.

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