By M Srinivas
Copyright deccanchronicle
Hyderabad: The Jubilee Hills police apprehended seven persons in connection with a criminal conspiracy involving the misappropriation of Rs.8.71 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF). The accused also cheated the State government as well as the genuine beneficiaries of CMRF, who were entitled to relief. The arrested have been identified as Potla Ravi (46), Janagama Nagaraju (40), Mateti Bhasker (33), Dharmaram Raju (50), Kampalli Santhosh (35), Chityala Laxmi (65), and Asampelli Laxmi, all natives of Godavarikhani in Karimnagar. The police said the arrested persons were fake beneficiaries who fraudulently caused the sanctioned CMRF cheques to be deposited into their personal accounts and subsequently withdrew the funds. They misappropriated the amount sanctioned under the CMRF for their wrongful gain, thereby cheating the government and depriving genuine beneficiaries. The Jubilee Hills police registered cases under Sections 409, 417, 419, 467, and 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 66(C) of the Information Technology Act. Following reliable information, the police detained the accused. During interrogation, the accused voluntarily admitted to their role in the crime. Jubilee Hills Inspector K Venkateshwara Reddy said that further investigation was in progress to identify additional persons involved in the offences and efforts were being made to recover the misappropriated funds. “The other accused persons have been identified but are currently absconding. Necessary steps are being taken to apprehend them,” he added. On July 15, 2025, the police arrested Jogula Naresh Kumar, Balagoni Venkatesh, Korlapati Vamshi, and Pulipaka Omkar and remanded them to judicial custody. They had criminally conspired and misappropriated funds sanctioned under the CMRF for their wrongful gain.
