CBI arrests proclaimed offender in SBI's Hyderabad Branch fraud case

New Delhi [India], August 5 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested V. Chalapathi Rao, a Proclaimed Offender (PO), on Sunday, August 4, for absconding in a bank fraud case by frequently changing his identity and locations.
In a press release, CBI stated that it had registered a case on May 1, 2002, against the said accused, a then-computer operator of SBI's Chandulal Biradari Branch in Hyderabad, on allegations that he had cheated SBI to the tune of Rs 50 lakh based on fabricated quotations of electronic shops and fake salary certificates created in the names of his family members, close associates and misappropriated the crime proceeds.
On completion of the investigation, CBI filed two chargesheets on December 31, 2004.
Meanwhile, Rao had been reported missing since 2004. His wife, who is also an accused in the above fraud case, even lodged an FIR at Kamatipura Police Station on July 10, 2004.
She had also filed a petition in the Civil Court to declare the absconding accused dead after completion of seven years after he allegedly went missing.
The case against him was split up and upon completion of the proceedings, Rao was declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO) for absconding on April 18, 2013, in the CBI case.
During the investigation, his wife obtained a stay order from the High Court of Telangana on the efforts to attach the property of the PO.
The PO resorted to numerous efforts, including constantly changing locations, contact numbers, identities, etc. However, CBI relentlessly pursued leads and finally caught him from a village in Tamil Nadu.
As per information gathered by the CBI, the accused had fled to Salem and married a lady in 2007 by changing his name to M Vineet Kumar and obtained an Aadhaar number as well.
Through his second wife, CBI got information that the PO was in touch with his son out of his first marriage.
However, in 2014 he left Salem without any information and reached Bhopal, where he worked as a loan recovery agent, and then shifted to Rudrapur in Uttarakhand, where he worked in a school.
When the team reached to trace him at Rudrapur, it was found that he had fled the said place in 2016. With the help of email IDs and the Aadhaar details of the PO in the name of M. Vineet Kumar, CBI approached the Law Enforcement Department.
With these details, it was found that the PO had shifted to an ashram in Verul village, Aurangabad. It was further revealed that the PO changed his name to Swamy Vidhitatmanand Teertha and also obtained an Aadhaar Card. However, in December 2021, he left the said Ashram, where he had allegedly cheated the Ashram to the tune of approximately Rs 70 lakh.
Subsequently, the PO shifted to Bharatpur in Rajasthan as Vidhitatmanand Teertha and stayed there till July 8, 2024. He thereafter left Bharatpur and reached Tirunelveli to stay with one of his disciples.
During this period, the PO changed contact numbers more than 8 to 10 times and was planning to escape to Sri Lanka by sea route.
The CBI finally traced the PO's hideout in Narsinganallur village of Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu where he was arrested on Sunday, August 4.
He was later produced before the LD Court of Special Judges for CBI Cases in Hyderabad on Sunday and will remain under Judicial Custody till August 16, 2024.