By The Hindu Bureau
Copyright thehindu
The Jubilee Hills police have apprehended seven persons in connection with an alleged criminal conspiracy leading to misappropriation of ₹8.71 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF).
The arrested persons are Potla Ravi, 46, Janagama Nagaraju, 40, Mateti Bhasker, 33, Dharmaram Raju, 50, Kampalli Santhosh, 35, Chityala Laxmi, 65, and Asampelli Laxmi.
They were identified as fake beneficiaries who fraudulently deposited sanctioned CMRF cheques into their personal accounts and withdrew the funds.
The misappropriation was part of a broader criminal conspiracy involving many people, said an officer from the Jubilee Hills police.
“During interrogation, the seven accused admitted to their involvement and were produced before the court for judicial remand. They are natives of Godavarikhani village of Pedapally district.
Investigations are on to identify other individuals involved and recover the misappropriated funds.
“Some more accused have been identified but are absconding,” said the officer.
Earlier, on 15 July, four accused – Jogula Naresh Kumar, 42, Balagoni Venkatesh, 37, Korlapati Vamshi, 24, and Pulipaka Omkar, 34 were arrested for similar offences under the CMRF misappropriation case.
The modus operandi involved misusing access to CMRF cheques.
One of the earlier accused unlawfully took possession of 230 undistributed cheques after the 2023 elections and deposited 19 cheques into SBI accounts using forged details. The total amount misappropriated by all accused was ₹8.71 lakh – which was distributed among them.
