Vijayawada: The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered a total of 115 cases during 2025, said ACB director general (DG) Atul Singh, while presenting the department’s performance data for the year 2025 on Friday. Of the total cases registered, 69 were trap cases, 8 cases related to disproportionate assets and 7 cases pertained to criminal misconduct. In addition, the ACB, in 2025, initiated 19 regular enquiries to probe complaints and allegations and conducted 12 surprise checks across departments.Disclosing the department’s annual performance report at the ACB headquarters in Vijayawada on Friday, ACB DG Atul Singh said that the department achieved a 46% conviction rate in 12 cases out of 36 case trials completed in ACB special courts in 2025. “Although the conviction rate increased to 46% from 32% in 2024, we aim to take the conviction rate above 70% by fast-tracking the case trials in ACB special courts,” the DG told reporters.The courts recorded convictions in 3 notable cases involving public servants during 2025, awarding rigorous imprisonment and imposing substantial fines. In Anantapur, R Subbaiah, assistant registrar of the AP Cooperative Housing Societies Federation Limited, was convicted and sentenced to 7 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI), along with a fine of Rs 2 lakh. In another case from Kurnool district, Boya Peddiah, SI attached to the Mahila Police Station, was also sentenced to 7 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 2 lakh after the court found him guilty of corruption-related charges. Another, D Meenakshee Madhav, principal of the regional Training Centre, Kurnool, was awarded 3 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1.10 lakh.Furnishing department-wise details pertaining to the 69 trap cases, which account for the lion’s share of the total cases booked by ACB in 2025, Atul Singh said the department laid maximum traps on officials working in the land revenue department and booked the highest 19 trap cases. This was followed by the MAUD department with 5 trap cases, and the home and finance departments with 4 cases each, along with 3 trap cases on the surveys, settlement and land records department and 2 trap cases against commercial tax department officials, while 27 trap cases were against officials from various other departments.Disclosing the major trap cases booked in 2025, Atul Singh informed that the ACB caught tribal welfare department engineer-in-chief Sabbavarapu Srinivasa Rao red-handed while taking a bribe amount of Rs 25 lakh. In another trap case, Adabala Narayana Swamy, working as senior assistant at the Kalyanadurgam sub-registrar office, was booked while taking a bribe amount of Rs 5 lakh.Adding further, the ACB DG said the department was uploading all the registered FIRs to the ACB website, enabling the public to access all the information related to all cases booked by ACB.Outlining the action plan of the ACB for 2026, Atul Singh said the department will accord top priority to the effective handling of PIDPI (Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers) complaints, ensuring confidentiality and timely redressal to encourage whistleblowers to come forward without fear. The department will continue action against organisations and individuals notorious for corruption, use technology and AI tools to identify areas and points of corruption, and ensure speedy trials in corruption cases.“An exclusive AI tool for the identification and detection of the Benami assets of notorious corrupt individuals will be designed by the ACB as part of the technological intervention this year,” the Bureau’s top cop added.
