Hyderabad: Police in Jubilee Hills have arrested seven individuals, including two women, for illegally obtaining Rs 8.71 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF). They pretended to be legitimate beneficiaries to access the funds. The suspects are from Godavarikhani in Pedapally District, Karimnagar.
These individuals deposited the CMRF cheques into their own accounts and withdrew the money, cheating both the government and the rightful recipients of the relief funds. The arrested include Potla Ravi (46), Janagama Nagaraju (40), Mateti Bhasker (33), Dharmaram Raju (50), Kampalli Santhosh (35), Chityala Laxmi (65), and Asampelli Laxmi.
The police identified them as imposters who misused the funds through a planned conspiracy. They registered cases under various sections, including Sections 409, 417, 419, 467, 120(B), and Section 66(C) of the Information Technology Act.
Detective Inspector Satyanarayana stated that the accused admitted to their crimes. They were formally arrested on September 18 and presented in court. The investigation continues to find others involved and recover the stolen money. Some suspects are still at large, and efforts are ongoing to capture them.
Earlier, on July 15, four more people were arrested for similar offenses. They conspired to misuse CMRF funds for personal gain. Jogula Naresh Kumar (42), Balagoni Venkatesh (37), Korlapati Vamshi (24), and Pulipaka Omkar (34) were detained and sent to judicial custody.
Naresh, who had access to CMRF cheques through his job at the minister’s office, took advantage of undelivered cheques after the 2023 elections. He appropriated 230 unused cheques and deposited 19 of them into SBI accounts using fake information, stealing a total of Rs 8,71,000.
