Keshava Reddy victims seek AgriGold-like relief

KURNOOL: Victims of economic fraud, committed by promoter of Keshava Reddy schools, have been gathering up to put pressure on the Chief Minister to resolve their issues on the lines of AgriGold.

Emboldened by Budgetary allocations made to bail out the AgriGold depositors, victims of economic fraud committed by promoter of Keshava Reddy schools have sought a similar bail out.

Nandyal MLA Silpa Ravi Chandra Kishore Reddy said that they are quantifying the amount deposited and ascertaining the beneficiaries.

“Once we have a list of depositors, we will do all that we can to realise the amounts of the depositors,” he said.

Though Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, as an Opposition leader during Nandyal by-election in 2017, made it a poll issue and visited every street in Nandyal and vowed to get back their money from fraudulent promoter of Keshav Reddy, still no tangible steps have been taken, a local leader Shankarayya said.

Depositors, numbering 500, from Nandyal alone had lost their money close to Rs 500 crores.  

Keshav Reddy sourced deposits from Kadapa, Proddutur, Anantapur, Kurnool, Vijayawada and Hyderabad cities.

A total of Rs 1,500 crores could have been sourced from depositors promising high rates of interest, said Janardhan, a victim.

Around 50 depositors, belonging to Yalur village, took out a procession to the schools managed by Keshav Reddy recently and staged a dharna demanding repayment of their money. Police convinced them by saying that Keshava Reddy schools were confiscated by the government and the victims could be paid back.

Nandyal MLA Silpa Ravi Chandra Kishore Reddy said that he had held a meeting with the victims of economic fraud in Keshava Reddy schools and has asked them to prepare a list of deposits and their respective maturities. “I will raise the issue in the Assembly and seek an AgriGold like bail out to Keshava Reddy victims,” he said.

Surya Narayana Reddy, a victim in Allagadda, said that some depositors were moving the court and getting directions to be paid.

Keshava Reddy is now lodged in Anantapur jail. No chargesheet has been filed. Still he is kept in jail. He has not been seeking any bail. It is strange that the government has been entertaining an economic offender, without any valid cause, to be lodged so long in the jail, said Surya Narayana Reddy.