Tollywood producer Suresh Babu falls prey to COVID-19 vaccine scam

Tollywood producer Suresh Babu, who is also the managing director of Suresh Productions, was allegedly cheated by a fraudster on the premise that he would be provided vaccines in bulk. The accused was arrested by the Cyberabad police and taken into custody after being booked under Section 420 (Cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Suresh Babu’s manager Rajendra Prasad had filed a complaint in the Jubilee Hills police station on May 31 after they realised that they were cheated as the accused’s mobile was switched off.

Speaking to The News Minute, investigating officer Siva Shankar from the Jubilee Hills police station said, “Producer Suresh Babu got a phone call from a person who claimed that he could provide bulk vaccination to his staff, but after sending an advance amount of Rs 1 lakh, the victim could not reach the accused. So, they have filed a complaint and an investigation is ongoing.” The accused has been identified as Nagarjuna Reddy, and has been arrested by the Cyberabad Cyber Crime police station, as there were already three complaints against him, including one from actor Ali. 

Commenting on the modus operandi of the accused, Cyberabad Cyber crime Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Balakrishna said, “The accused has been calling people and claiming that he was contacting them on behalf of Telangana Health Department, which was  giving priority vaccination to people in the cinema and media industry. After convincing them through a discussion, he said that it would take Rs 100 for a single dose of vaccination and accordingly, collected advances from various people. He would later switch off his mobile.”

The police warned that one should not fall prey to such calls and should be careful before sending money to any unknown numbers, without valid proof or documents. Several such cyber crimes, asking for money in the name of jobs, providing personal loans and investment offers through bitcoins, were also happening widely, the police added.

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