3 booked for siphoning CM’S relief for farmer

Three persons, including a government employee and a contract employee posted in the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) wing, were arrested for cheating a farmer by pocketing `87,500 that was sanctioned to him without his knowledge

The case came to light after the farmer P. Ravi Naik, 30, approached the Jubilee Hills police and lodged a complaint on March 21. Naik stated that he belonged to Pirla thanda at Abenda in Medak district and had married Lalitha Bai, also a farmer, in 2022. On November 5 of the same year, Lalitha was bitten by a snake when they were working in their farm. She was rushed to Balaji Hospital in Sangareddy and then to Wellness Hospital in Ameerpet. Naik had to sell his farm to raise `5

When the farmer went to the CMRF office to enquire about the status of his application, he was told that he was sanctioned `87,500

lakh towards hospital expenditure.

In January 2023, he applied for CMRF assistance. He checked the status online.

In his complaint, he stated that he had recently gone to the CMRF office to enquire about the status of his application.

He was told that he had been sanctioned `87,500. He said that one Jogula Naresh Kumar, a data entry operator at a former health minister’s office, was giving away cheques issued by the state government to beneficiaries. He came to know that Naresh Kumar had given his cheque to one Korlapati, who was supposed to give it to him, police said.

Naik’s efforts to contact Naresh Kumar went in vain. During investigation it was found that Naresh Kumar, employed on a contract basis, had colluded with one Vamsi, a car driver, and Balagoni Venkateh Goud, an attendant in the Assembly, who collected commissions from beneficiaries. They took the unclaimed funds to the tune of `87,500 in the name of P. Ravi Naik, said K. Venkateshwar Reddy, Jubilee Hills inspector.

One Omkar from Godavarikhani, and Vamsi brought forth another person, who presented himself as Ravi Naik, and withdrew the money from SBI’S Jubilee Hills branch Road No. 5, Naik said. Based on the complaint, cases of cheating, criminal conspiracy, accessing a computer resource without permissionwere registered against Venkatesh, Vamshi and Omkar.