The businessman, who failed to give a satisfactory answer as he deposited huge amounts of cash, allegedly admitted under further cross-examination that he was involved in the hawala transactions, which were carried out under the guise of bars and restaurants.
Post Date – 12:10 AM, Tue – 1/10/23
Hyderabad: The case of businessman Venkatrami Reddy, who claimed he was robbed of Rs 5 million by unidentified persons in Vanasthalipuram on Friday, took a new turn with police on Monday, linking the amount to hawala transactions.
Earlier, the businessman had approached the police claiming that Rs 2 crore had been robbed from him, which was later revised to Rs 5 lakh. The police became suspicious of the inconsistent account and began questioning him.
Police also searched the house of Venkatrami Reddy on Monday and found a large amount of unaccounted-for cash inside.
The businessman was unable to give a satisfactory answer to the question of depositing such a huge amount of cash, and on further cross-examination he reportedly admitted his involvement in hawala transactions, which were carried out under the guise of bars and restaurants .
Apart from Venkatrami Reddy, a UB businessman and another person from Riyasathnagar were also involved in the illegal hawala business, police said.
Investigators are taking the case further to understand the scale of the illegal hawala operation, drawing on WhatsApp chat logs and some records of previous financial transactions in diaries.
LB Nagar DCP, Sunpreet Singh are overseeing the investigation and two teams are working on the case. Old City folks linked to the illicit trade are on the run.