Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court, on Friday rejected the plea by Sahiti infra’s founder Boodati Lakshmi Narayana against the ongoing probe in the alleged Rs 900 crore fraud case from December.
The HC directed the central crime station (CSS) police of Hyderabad to file a status report by February 10 on the progress made in the probe against Narayan.
A bench of chief justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji was hearing a writ petition filed by Narayana’s relatives who were questioning the order of a single judge who last month ordered a probe into the alleged fraud committed by the firm in the name of pre-launch offers and directed the CCS police to complete it within three months.
Narayana is currently practising his jail term after his arrest by the Hyderabad police.
The wife and son of Narayana filed the appeal, stating that the judge passed the order without hearing them and without issuing them a notice.
Hyderabad: Sahiti group owner sent to 3-day police custody in Rs 900 cr fraud
They held that police registered as many as 46 FIRs along with scores of other ventures also getting entangled in litigation, in the Ameenpur venture alone.
The appellant’s counsel P Roy Reddy urged the court to stop the registration of fresh FIRs and hear their version first.
The CSS investigations against Narayana revealed that the company had allegedly advertised pre-launch offers for a major gated community at Ameenpur on the outskirts of the city on social media platforms from June 2019 and collected around Rs 72.81 crore from 240 members.
However, the company did not acquire land and required permission from the concerned authorities.
The probe revealed that the accused initially bought time and later told the investors to cancel their purchase and take the money back. They issued post-dated cheques that bounced. The firm promoters sent legal defamation notices to people who raised their voices.
It was further revealed that Rs 327 crore of the amounts collected by Sahiti Infratec were transferred to various accounts operated by different entities owned by their directors and other individuals.
