Hyderabad, July 29 : The Telangana Police's CID on Tuesday arrested Mudra Agriculture Skill Development Multi-State Co-operative Society Limited Chairman, Thippeneni Ramadasappa Naidu, in a Rs 140 crore fraud case.

The CID arrested Ramadasappa Naidu, 61, from Amaravati in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

He is accused of cheating over 2,000 farmers and unemployed youth to the tune of Rs 140 crore under the guise of a government-linked scheme.

The CID also arrested Naidu's son and another accused, Thippeneni Sai Kiran, a member of the society, in Hyderabad.

According to the CID, this is a case of criminal breach of trust, cheating, and illegal collection of deposits from farmers and unemployed youth by Ramadasappa Naidu.

He, along with others, with a criminal intent, established the Mudra Agriculture Skill Development Multi-State Co-Operative Society Limited, mimicking the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, a Central government scheme, and projected it as a government-backed initiative. They enticed farmers and unemployed youth by promising jobs and high-interest returns on deposits. The Chairman also falsely claimed that the society would be converted into a full-fledged bank within two years and that all associated members would become permanent government employees, the CID said.

"Based on these false promises, the accused collected deposits from daily wage workers, farmers, and shopkeepers, amounting to approximately Rs 140 crore, and diverted the funds for personal use," said the CID.

Based on victims' complaints, 10 cases were registered against the accused at various police stations in Telangana between 2020 and 2022. All the cases are being investigated by the CID.

Additional Director General of Police, CID, Charu Sinha, said the investigation revealed that the chairman published advertisements in Telugu newspapers offering 2,000 government marketing supervisor jobs. Believing these advertisements to be true, many from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh applied. The accused retained original educational certificates and collected amounts under the guise of share capital and investment bonds instead of fixed deposits. Employees were given targets to collect deposits from farmers, and when they failed, the amounts were deducted from their salaries.

Several employees, who resigned, were denied the return of their certificates and investments. If they resisted, the accused threatened them with negative coverage in the 'Margadarshi' newspaper, falsely alleging links with anti-social elements, she said. The main accused also took signatures on blank white papers and withheld salaries.

The society had opened 330 branches and recruited around 1,600 employees. A significant portion of the collected funds was invested in APIIC Limited for acquiring industrial plots in Andhra Pradesh.

Further investigation is ongoing to trace the fund flow and identify other accused, the Additional DGP said.

/IANS