The CID has arrested Bashamalla Anantha Rao, a retired office superintendent of the BSNL, in a case of misappropriating Rs 20 crore from BSNL employees.
A case of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of a substantial amount of funds involving deposits made by BSNL employees in the BSNL Employees' Cooperative Credit Society Ltd, Nalgonda, first reported in April 2022, saw a key arrest on Tuesday.
On May 13, the CID arrested Bashamalla Anantha Rao, 63, a retired office superintendent of BSNL and a resident of Nalgonda.
Material evidence was seized from his possession, and he was produced before a Magistrate for judicial remand.
The incident originally came to light on April 30, 2022, following a complaint. The main accused, Ch Bixsham - who held the positions of president and secretary of the society for the past 15 years - along with seven others, all BSNL employees and elected members/directors of the credit society, allegedly collected large sums from both members and non-members, issued fake FD bonds, and misused the money without depositing it into the society's accounts.
The accused allegedly misappropriated approximately Rs 20 crore.
Following orders from the Government of Telangana, the case was handed over to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) for investigation.
According to the case details, on April 30, 2022, the Deputy Registrar and Audit Officer from the Office of the District Cooperative Officer, Nalgonda, lodged a complaint regarding the embezzlement of nearly Rs 20 crore.
The fraud was uncovered during a government audit initiated in response to complaints from members.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered at the CID Police Station, Hyderabad, under Sections 406, 409, 477-A and 420 read with 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and an investigation was launched.
The investigation is ongoing to establish further facts, apprehend the remaining accused who are absconding, and determine the involvement of other individuals or agencies.