VIJAYAWADA: For Vijayawada top cop D Gautam Sawang, the case involving the apparel designer was only the tip of the iceberg that resulted in arrests of several men including some with political links. “She had explained how she was trapped and sexually exploited. Words fall short to explain the heinous deeds against her,” he said.
Following the complaint, Machavaram police in Vijayawada city took 12 people into custody till December 12, and registered cases against seven accused—Yalamanchili Srirama Murthy alias Ramu, Bhavani Shankar, Chennupati Srinivasa Rao, Satyanand, Venigalla Srikanth, Pendyala Srikanth and Duddala Rajesh. A day later, two key accused—Yalamanchili Srirama Murthy and Duddala Rajesh—were held.
M Satyanand, a divisional engineer with Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Ltd, was suspended. He and another accused are at large. Chennupati Srinivas Rao is brother of former Congress MLA Vangaveeti Ratna Kumari, while Venigalla Srikanth is a friend of Penamaluru TDP MLA Bode Prasad, and Pendyala Srikanth is linked to the East Godavari Zilla Parishad chairperson. Duddala Rajesh, a bouncer, is said to be formerly associated with a Congress leader.
Following the arrests, the number of complaints from the victims of the scam in Vijayawada and across the state is increasing by the day. So far, more than 150 people have been taken into custody for questioning, a similar number of cases have been booked and documents of properties worth crores of rupees have been seized, besides hundreds of blank cheques.
A police officer said investigators were focusing on cases where sexual exploitation, harassment and threats were reported. As big financiers are reportedly involved, they could involve income tax authorities.