Ex-cricketer poses as KTR’s secretary to dupe people, arrested

Hyderabad: An ex-Ranji trophy cricketer was arrested by the Hyderabad police for allegedly duping corporate companies after posing as the personal secretary of state IT Minister K T Rama Rao (KTR). B. Nagaraju, the accused, collected an amount of Rs 39 lakh through his scam.

According to Anjani Kumar, commissioner of police, Hyderabad, Nagaraju accused allegedly targeted corporate companies, corporate hospitals, retailers and educational institutions after making phone calls to them introducing himself as Bandari Tirupati, KTR’s personal secretary.

The accused allegedly told his victims that KTR will eventually be sworn-in as the chief minister, and that they needed funds to arrange hoardings and mass advertisements for the sweating-in programme, which supposedly was going to take place in the LB stadium.

Nagaraju, who is an MBA graduate, represented Andhra Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy from 2014 to 2016. After getting sponsorships from different firms, he got used to living a posh lifestyle, and was also involved in “bad vices”, said Kumar.

After the downfall of his cricketing career, to maintain his lifestyle, Nagaraju, began indulging in illegal means to make money since 2018, said the police.

“He was previously arrested in 10 cases and was released on bail. But he didn’t change his attitude after coming out on bail and continued his attitude,” stated the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad. Nagaraju was arrested by police officials.