Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) headquarters in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
Behind the luxury villas, land banks, cash and gold unearthed in some of Telangana’s biggest anti-corruption raids this year lies a clear shift in strategy. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has already registered 16 disproportionate assets (DA) cases by July 17, already surpassing the total recorded in whole of 2025 and closing in on decade-high of 18 cases registered in 2022.The shiftData shared by the department with The Hindu showed that between January 1 and July 17, the ACB registered 137 cases, comprising 67 trap cases, 16 DA cases, 18 other corruption cases, and carried out 36 surprise checks. While trap cases continue to account for the bulk of the bureau’s work, officials said the focus has increasingly shifted towards investigating public servants suspected of amassing assets beyond their known sources of income.The bureau’s data also reflects a steady rise in anti-corruption activity over the past decade. Overall cases more than doubled from 112 in 2016 to 253 in 2025, an increase of nearly 126%. Although the 2026 figures cover only the period up to July 17, the bureau has already registered 137 cases, more than the total recorded in 2016. It also registered a record 77 cases during the April-June quarter this year, the highest for the corresponding quarter since 1983.
