Hyderabad: A day after irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy warned that those responsible for flaws in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project would be punished, ACB officials Saturday conducted simultaneous searches at premises linked to the project’s former engineer-in-chief, B Hariram and his relatives.
The searches unearthed disproportionate assets worth crores of rupees. Hariram was arrested late in the night.

The raids follow a case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, based on intelligence gathered from multiple sources, officials said.
At around 6 am, ACB teams descended on Hariram’s villa in a gated community at Tolichowki. Led by DSP K Srinivas Reddy, the team arrived in eight vehicles and conducted searches that stretched late into the night. Sources said Hariram, currently posted as engineer-in-chief, irrigation and command area development, Gajwel, was at home and cooperated with officials. His wife, a deputy chief engineer at Water and Land Management Training and Research Institute, was also present.
Another team searched the tahsildar office at Markook in Siddipet district to verify land records linked to Hariram, who allegedly owns large tracts of agricultural land there. ACB officials are also in the process of opening several bank lockers linked to him.
“A case of disproportionate assets was registered against Hariram. He has assets beyond known sources of income. Property documents pertaining to open plots, commercial spaces, agricultural land, and houses were seized. The accused acquired several movable and immovable properties illegally by abusing his official position,” ACB said in a statement.
Searches were also conducted at Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh where Hariram’s son-in-law works, and at Hariram’s native village, Edurugadda, in Bhadradri Kothagudem district. In all, 13 locations across the two Telugu states were searched, including the homes of Hariram’s relatives and friends.
Among the assets unearthed were villas at Sheikpet and Kondapur, one flat each in Srinagar Colony, Madhapur, Narsingi, commercial space at Amaravati, 28 acres in Markook, 20 guntas in Patancheru, two houses in Srinagar Colony, one farmhouse in six acres with mangrove in Bommalaramaram, an underconstruction building at Kothagudem, one plot each in Quthbullapur and Miryalaguda, two four-wheelers, including a BMW car, gold ornaments and bank deposits,” a senior ACB official said.
As investigations gathered pace, sources said Saturday’s raids mark a major step in the govt’s move to fix accountability for the alleged corruption in the construction of Kaleshwaram project.
The raids come against the backdrop of mounting scrutiny of the Kaleshwaram project. On March 14, 2024, the state govt had appointed a commission headed by Justice PC Ghose to investigate alleged irregularities in the construction of the project’s barrages. Hariram was questioned by the commission in Sept 2024.
The National Dam Safety Authority, in its recent report, pointed to serious lapses, recommending a thorough investigation into the Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Bharat Summit 2025 at HICC on Friday, Uttam termed the flaws in the Kaleshwaram project a “grave betrayal” of Telangana’s farmers. “We will ensure this betrayal does not go unpunished. Those who built this project and enabled its flaws will face consequences,” he said, promising a detailed study of the NDSA’s findings.