Hyderabad: The Commissioners Task Force North (Zone) in coordination with Mahankali Police on Tuesday, October 8 arrested three persons accused of rice ‘pulling’ and seized cash worth Rs 25 lakh from them. ‘Rice pulling’ is a scam wherein scammers dupe people by selling them devices made from copper-iridium, while claiming that it has the ability to attract rice or give them wealth.
The accused have been identified as Pagidimarry Shiva Santhosh Kumar,44, a resident of Old Alwal Secunderabad; Gulluru Manjunath Reddy, 38, a native of Chittoor Andhra Pradesh and and Pratap, 44, a native of Bangalore.
They planned to dupe people through the rice pulling scam. They made people believe that the copper vessel in their possession had magical powers to double money. This business of selling the copper vessel was executed through a company known as “Appreches and Research”. Later, the accused Shiva met complainant at a restaurant and introduced himself as an employee of the company.
They also claimed that the quality of the vessel is tested only through a ‘Scanner’ for doing business, which is available with DRDO, for which Rs 25 Lakh have to be paid. Pratap was introduced as a scientist.
On October 6, the accused paid the amount to the accused. However, the accused began making excuses for not getting the scanned; he demanded additional Rs 23 lakh for starting the business. Following a complaint, the police investigated the case and arrested the accused who were booked under sections 316(2), 318(4) BNS R/w 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanahita.