A suspect in the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) fraud case has reportedly escaped from the police custody. He gave the slip to the special team while being brought to Andhra Pradesh.
On September 20, the Thullur police of Guntur district registered a case in connection with the scam. The case is being probed by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials.
Fraudsters deposited a cheque for ₹52.65 crore in Moodbiri State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Manguluru on September 9. The accused tried to encash two more cheques for ₹39.83 crore and ₹24.65 crore in West Bengal.
The three cheques were issued to three beneficiaries – Kolli Rattaiah, Konatham Hymavathi and Pathuri Hymavathi – for ₹16,000, ₹45,000 and ₹45,000, of different places in A.P. The gang created duplicate cheques with the same numbers and tried to draw about ₹117 crore.
The bank staff alerted the SBI officials of Thullur and Vijayawada, who asked them to stop payments and confirmed that the three cheques were fake. They informed the higher officials and the Assistant Secretary to Government (Revenue Department) P. Murali Krishna Rao and lodged a complaint with the police.
The CID, ACB and Kadapa police investigating the scam visited Karnataka, West Bengal and other States and identified about 10 persons involved in the fraud.
A couple of days ago, a suspect, who was being brought to A.P. by the CID police, escaped from custody. He was most wanted in other States, a senior police official told The Hindu on Tuesday. A search was on for the accused, he said.
