A surprise inspection by the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau at the Bandlaguda Regional Transport Office in Hyderabad has uncovered alleged application-processing violations, unauthorised agents, missing transport applications and suspicious UPI transactions on staff members’ mobile phones.
According to the ACB findings reported by Deccan Chronicle, officials found unauthorised persons and agents inside the RTO office carrying applications. The inspection also detected what the agency described as a practice of placing symbols and names on applications to enable their faster movement through agents.
The staff members identified in the report include Assistant Officers B. Sunitha and N Hemanth Kumar; Senior Assistants Mohd Imran and K Sai Kumar; and Junior Assistants K. Babuji, M.A. Lateef Khan and T. Saikanth. The report attributed the findings to the Telangana ACB and did not state that arrests or formal charges had been announced against the named employees.
The inspection found Rs. 24,760 in cash with agents present at the office. The ACB also found 33 transport applications missing from the custody of Sai Kumar and Sri Saikanth, according to the report. The findings raise questions about document custody and the extent to which applicants may be relying on intermediaries to navigate routine transport-office services.
The report also said that investigators detected suspicious UPI transactions on the mobile phones of staff members. It did not provide transaction amounts, the identities of the recipients or senders, or the specific services allegedly connected to the digital payments. Those details would be necessary to establish the nature and purpose of the transactions.
The ACB further observed that some employees had remained posted at the same RTO office for extended periods. M.A. Lateef Khan was reported to have worked at the office for nearly 20 years, with short breaks. The report did not specify the applicable transfer rules, the employee’s exact posting history or whether the ACB had recommended administrative action on that account.
The Bandlaguda findings point to vulnerabilities in public-facing transport administration, where applications, approvals and payments pass through multiple desks and where agents can become an informal interface between citizens and government offices. The inspection identified alleged practices within the office, but the supplied report does not establish the outcome of any departmental inquiry or criminal investigation.
The ACB’s next steps, including any further examination of the UPI records, missing applications, cash recovered from agents and the role of individual staff members, will determine whether the findings lead to prosecutions, departmental action or changes in office-level procedures.
