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Rs 8 lakh for issuing death certificate?
VINUKONDA: A village revenue officer (VRO) set a dubious record of sorts by demanding a bribe of Rs 8 lakh for issuing a mere death certificate. Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths said this was the biggest amount accepted by such a low-ranked official anywhere in the state.
The `victim’and his relatives were squabbling over property and other assets worth approximately Rs 50 crore left behind by the deceased woman and hence, the huge sum was demanded by the revenue officer. The VRO was nabbed by ACB sleuths and remanded to judicial custody by a Vijayawada court on Tuesday. Though possession of a death certificate does not grant entitlement to properties of a deceased, in most villages the physical possession of a death certificate is an informal requirement for issuance of a `legal heir’ certificate. “So if you have a death certificate, the chances are that you will get a legal heir certificate. This may not be possible in cities but this is what happens in villages,” explained an informed source.
According to ACB DSP R Umamaheswara Sharma, Kanuganti Mahendra, VRO of Cheekateegalapalem village near Vinukonda, had demanded the huge sum from Annapureddi Nagireddy. The DSP said Nagireddy’s maternal aunt Madana Seethamahalakshmi and her husband Subbareddy owned assets worth nearly Rs 50 crore in the form of farm land and house sites in Visakhapatnam and Guntur districts.
While Subbareddy died long ago, Seethamahalakshmi lived with Nagireddy’s family till her death in May. The couple did not have any children and neither did they leave behind a will. Thus began the squabbling for the property.
Aware that there was a scramble for the property, the VRO originally demanded Rs 10 lakh to issue the death certificate and later brought it down to Rs 8 lakh after prolonged negotiations.
Nagireddi then lodged a complaint with the ACB following which a trap was laid. The VRO denied that he had demanded any bribe and that Nagireddi had on his own accord placed the said amount on the table. However, ACB sleuths said he was caught red-handed accepting the bribe.
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