HYDERABAD: A Congress party leader and his friend, who allegedly duped a businessman of Rs 15 lakh under the pretext of providing a contract to supply saplings under the Haritha Haram scheme, were booked by the Banjara Hills police on Friday.
According to police, Kantham and his friend Venkateswarlu had met victim businessman Vijay Kumar at a staff hotel for a business deal. During the meeting, the duo gave details of the Haritha Haram programme to the victim, and promised to provide him a contract for the distribution of saplings under the programme.
“The businessman was told that he was supposed to purchase and distribute the saplings at villages. The duo collected Rs 15 lakh from him in this regard,” the police said.A few months later, after he failed to receive any contract, Vijay Kumar asked the duo to return the amount, but to no avail. Once he realised that he was duped, he lodged a complaint with the Banjara Hills police.Based on the complaint, the police have registered cases against Kantham and Venkateswarlu. Investigation is underway.