HYDERABAD: It is not usual that a realtor is punished with an imprisonment of 62 years trailed with a fine of Rs 3.1 lakh for fraudulent practices in re-selling a piece of land to multiple people. It is also rare that a person from a similar community would take fellow members for a ride and dupe them of money running into crores of rupees.
But Yellapragada Prabhakar Rao has done what the 150-odd petitioners never expected him to do. In September last year, Prabhakar Rao, a proprietor and promoter of Veda Gayathri Agraharam, was arrested for duping 31 of his customers by re-selling the same set of plots in Cheguru Village near Mahabubnagar.
It may be noted that the arrest was executed in September 2017 after Prabhakar Rao failed to honour the judgment of the district forum which directed him to compensate the victims and undergo 62 years of imprisonment.
Prabhakar Rao was sentenced to imprisonment for two years in each of the 31 cases heard at the Ranga Reddy district forum, in September 2017 that totalled to 62 years. On Wednesday, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) pronounced its judgment on an appeal raised by Prabhakar over his arrest. The president of the commission “dismissed the appeal” while “upholding” the judgment of the district forum.
“We request the proprietor to realise his fault and pay back the amounts as per the order to all members. We have been made to believe in false promises by his venture, which wasted our hard earned money all this while,” said P Durga Prasad Rao, a member of Veda Gayatri Agrahara Sufferers’ Society.
Another senior-citizen, RV Ramana Rao who invested Rs 2.5 lakh to buy a 100 square yard ploy with his savings while working as a temple priest said that he was cheated even when there was no trace of the plot.
“They told us that an old-age home would be constructed in the venture with a temple while ensuring that special measures would be taken for senior citizens. It was cheating and we are still fighting for justice,” he said. Meanwhile, there are about 100 petitions relating to the same venture that are still under trial.
It is learnt that the proprietor sold plots in a piece of 36 acres of land to more than 900 persons belonging to the Brahmin community and ensuring them of having temples, Veda patashala, an old-age home, temples and other amenities.