Public swindled of Rs3 crore

Eluru: A tailor fled by cheating the public to the tune of Rs 3 crore which he had collected as part of chitfund business at Yalamanchili village in West Godavari district. This came to light on Saturday.

According to victims and police, Yarra Satyanarayana, a tailor, was running chitfund business for the past 15 years. He targeted the poor and middle-class and included them in the chit business ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Whenever auction was conducted, he used to pay the amount immediately to the members of the chit. Hence, he won their good will. 

The members, who got the chit amount, lent money ranging Rs 2,000 on interest to him. Satyanarayana had invested that amount in the real estate in the capital city area. Following this, when the time came to repay the chits, he was unable to pay the amount that was auctioned in the chits.

The villagers over the few months started exerting pressure on him to pay the chit amount. 

Unable to pressure, Satyanarayana shifted his residence to Palacol.  Meanwhile, his wife lodged a complaint with Palacol police stating that her husband was missing from February 17 after he went to Yalamanchili. 

After learning about the complaint, the chit victims lodged a complaint with Yalamanchili police about the cheating of Satyanarayana. 

It is estimated that Satyanarayana had collected Rs 3 crore from the villagers. The police identified that Satyanarayana was wandering under Vijayawada police station jurisdiction. A special team has been sent to Vijayawada to nab Satyanarayana. 

Nasrsapuram DSP T Prabhakara Babu reached Palacol on Saturday and enquired rural CI K Rajanikumar on the issue. Later, DSP has taken the file of Satyanarayana along with him. Yalamanchili police registered a case under Section 420 IPC and other sections.