Four officers in Vigilance hook, two transferred

Hyderabad: Aninvestigation by the Vigilance wing has zeroed in on four officials who are suspected of having leaked the HILT (Hyderabad Industrial Land Transfer) Policy well before the issue of the related GO. The names of two IAS officers and two TGIIC (Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation) officials have been mentioned in the report.

One of the IAS officers has already given an explanation to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy stating that he had no role in the leak of the HILT Policy to the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi, sources said. The other IAS officer also convinced the CMO that he was not involved in the episode.

However, the Chief Minister, after seeking clarifications, reportedly transferred the top officers and posted them in different wings of the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department.

The Vigilance sleuths grilled the two TGIIC officials in the rank of General Managers as well and gathered some evidence to prove their role in the leak of the policy before the state government announced it.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi leaders had claimed that some senior officers helped in getting classified information relating to the policy even before the government order was released by the state Industries Department.

The investigation by the Vigilance Department, however, did not secure any evidence 0that can establish the possible role of any of the ninisters in the policy leak.

For, some of the initial reports suggested that one of the Cabinet Sub Committees on mobilisation of resources was the mastermind behind the leak of the policy. However, the probe confirmed that no minister was involved.

The Chief Minister has reportedly instructed the officials to proceed against the TGIIC officials allegedly involved in the leak of the policy only after seeking legal opinion. The role of the TGIIC officials would be established with evidence only after grilling them again.

The Forensic wing has already analysed the related phone conversation, WhatsApp shares, and email communication of the four officials and prepared a report on the probable transfer of the draft of HILT Policy when it was being prepared in the meetings held by the Cabinet Sub Committee concerned.