Jubilee Hills police have successfully apprehended seven individuals suspected of being involved in a large-scale criminal conspiracy. This operation led to the alleged misappropriation of a significant sum, ₹8.71 lakh, from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF).
The arrested individuals 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.
These suspects acted as bogus beneficiaries, illicitly depositing official CMRF cheques into their personal bank accounts and subsequently withdrawing the funds for their own use.
Authorities from the Jubilee Hills police department revealed that this fraudulent activity is part of a much wider criminal network with numerous participants involved.
During questioning, all seven accused confessed to their roles in the scam. They have since been presented before the court for judicial remand. Investigations uncovered that the group hails from the Godavarikhani village in the Pedapally district.
The police confirmed that efforts are actively underway to identify and locate other accomplices involved in the scheme and to recover the stolen funds. Several additional suspects have been identified but are currently at large.
This latest round of arrests follows a prior operation on July 15, when four other individuals—Jogula Naresh Kumar (42), Balagoni Venkatesh (37), Korlapati Vamshi (24), and Pulipaka Omkar (34)—were taken into custody for similar offenses related to the CMRF misappropriation.
The elaborate scheme involved exploiting unauthorized access to CMRF cheques. One of the previously arrested individuals reportedly seized approximately 230 undistributed cheques after the 2023 elections. They then proceeded to fraudulently deposit 19 of these cheques into various State Bank of India accounts using falsified information. The total amount siphoned off through this collective criminal activity amounted to ₹8.71 lakh, which was subsequently shared among the conspirators.