15 March,2023 05:47 AM IST | Mumbai | Faizan Khan
Accused Budumuru Nagaraju (second from left) with a team of Mumbai cyber cell
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The Mumbai cyber cops have arrested Budumuru Nagaraju, who once represented Andhra Pradesh at the Ranji level, for duping a city-based electronics company of Rs 12 lakh. The 28-year-old cricketer turned into a conman in 2018 after a politician cheated him of Rs 15 lakh after promising him a job in the railways, said the police.
When Nagaraju asked for his money back, he was allegedly beaten up, cops from the Mumbai cyber cell told mid-day. Nagaraju played Ranji between 2014 and 2016 and was selected for SunRisers Hyderabad in 2018. He faces at least 30 cases of cyber fraud in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, cops said. He was arrested based on a complaint filed by a leading electronics company based out of Mumbai. According to the cyber cell, Nagaraju called the company impersonating Nageshwar Reddy, the personal assistant to the Andhra Pradesh chief minister and said that the CM wanted to speak to the managing director (MD).
"Nagaraju got the number of the MD and called him posing as the CM. He asked him to sponsor a cricket kit for cricketer Ricky Bhui, who represents Andhra Pradesh and is a member of SunRisers Hyderabad IPL team," said Balsing Rajput, deputy commissioner of police, (cyber), Mumbai police. The police learnt that Nagaraju had created a false document of the Andhra Cricket Association, fake WhatsApp details of Reddy and a fake email ID of Bhui, which he forwarded to the company. Believing it to be a request from the CM, the company sponsored Rs 12 lakh for Bhui.
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"Based on the details collected and with the help of technical analysis, the accused was apprehended from Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh," Rajput added. They later learnt that he has duped around 60 corporate entities to the tune of Rs 3 crore since 2018. The accused told the Mumbai cyber cell that he took to a life of crime after "a leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) duped him of Rs 15 lakh," an officer privy to the investigation said.
30
No of cyber fraud cases he faces in AP, Telangana
