Ex-cricketer held for impersonating Telangana CM's OSD to demand money from bizmen

Hyderabad, May 22 (IANS) Hyderabad police have arrested a former Ranji cricketer from Andhra Pradesh for posing as the personal secretary and OSD of Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to demand money from businessmen.

The Cyber Crime Police have arrested Budumuru Nagaraju, aged 32 years, a resident of Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, for impersonation.

According to police, the accused had created a fake email ID and sent fraudulent emails to various business persons while impersonating as the personal secretary and Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Telangana Chief Minister.

Nagaraju is already involved in 13 cases in Telangana and 16 cases in Andhra Pradesh. A non-bailable warrant (NBW) is also pending against him in a Hyderabad court.

The police arrested the former cricketer after receiving a complaint from OSD to the Chief Minister regarding fake mail ids and WhatsApp calls by an individual falsely claiming to be the personal secretary and OSD to the Chief Minister.

A case was registered by the Cyber Crime Unit under Sections 66C, 66D of the Information Technology Act, and Section 319(2) of the BNS against the accused and he was arrested.

Nagaraju had recently contacted Bollineni Infra Projects MD Krishna Mohan Bollineni via the email address reventhreddyosd@gmail.com.

The accused had earlier contacted various individuals, including Rapido MD Aravind Sanka, Gupta Realty Chairman Srinivas Gupta Verrabomma, Country Delight MD Nitin Koushal, and several others, demanding money.

The accused created a fake email ID and WhatsApp account in the name of persons on high positions in the government and sent emails, messages, and WhatsApp calls to persons who are rich and running different businesses.

The police have cautioned people not to believe the messages or emails received in the name of government officials.

Cases of cheating, criminal breach of trust, and impersonation were registered against Nagaraju at various police stations in both Telugu states for the last five years.

--IANS

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