Cop who ran illegal money lending firm in Karimnagar dismissed from service

Mohan Reddy, who used to work in the Siddipet Commissionerate limits, was earlier placed under suspension for running the illegal finance business.

Karimnagar: A police official, who was found to be running a full time money-lending business after setting up an office in Karimnagar, was dismissed from service.

Karimnagar Range DIG (In-charge) and Commissioner of Police V Satyanarayana issued the dismissal orders for ASI B Mohan Reddy after Jagtial SP Sindhu Sharma submitted an enquiry report. The report found the ASI guilty of grave misconduct.

Mohan Reddy, who used to work in the Siddipet Commissionerate limits of the erstwhile Karimnagar district, was earlier placed under suspension for running the illegal finance business. Based on complaints lodged by victims as well as news of the cop running an illegal financé business being widely covered in the media, Sindhu Sharma was asked to conduct an enquiry. According to officials, the enquiry, which included statements from 11 witnesses, had established that Mohan Reddy was operating a finance business despite knowing that it was unregistered and not legal and in violation of provisions of the Money Lenders Act 1349 read with the AP Finance and Establishment Act 1995.

Mohan Reddy, it was found, was not giving any document indicating the amount given to the borrower. He got the borrower’s properties registered to proxies including his father B Adi Reddy, wife B Latha and brother-in-law Sridhar Reddy by way of sale-cum-GPA and got the full right to sell those properties to anyone. He was lending money on interest at the rate of 3 to 5 percent by taking blank cheques and blank promissory notes from the borrowers, the enquiry found. Besides threatening borrowers, Mohan Reddy along with his accomplices allegedly grabbed land as well. Unable to tolerate harassment by the cop, one Ramavarapu Prasada Rao had died by suicide.

Running an illegal money lending business while employed in a law enforcement agency and the act of threatening borrowers and occupying their properties on the name of proxies and abetment to suicide of a borrower were in violation of service and conduct rules, the dismissal orders noted.