Tollywood producer denies allegations of cheating

Hyderabad, March 12:  Telugu film producer Bellamkonda Suresh on Saturday denied allegations that he and his son and actor Bellamkonda Sai Srinivas cheated a financier to the tune of Rs 85 lakh.

A day after Hyderabad police booked a case of cheating against them on a complaint by V.L. Sravan Kumar, the producer, alleged that Kumar made the allegations to financially blackmail them.

Suresh said they would wage a legal battle against Kumar. He claimed that there is no truth in the allegation that he and his son took Rs 85 lakh from Kumar to make a film. "He has not given us even a rupee. Let him produce the evidence that we took money from him," he said.

The producer alleged that by making such allegations Kumar was trying to blackmail and extort money from them.

Stating that the complainant hailed from their village, Suresh said he used to phone him for cinema tickets. Claiming that he used to speak to local distributor and arrange tickets for him every week, Suresh said such a man was now making allegations against them.

The producer said the man was jealous of their success and deliberately dragged the name of his son as he was just settling down in his career. "The allegations are aimed at damaging my son's image. If he could not prove that we took Rs 85 lakh from him, we will file a defamation suit and will also initiate criminal proceedings against him," he said.

Suresh also alleged that there is a political leader behind Kumar. He said he would soon reveal the name of the political leader along with the evidence.

Suresh said he has still not received any notice from court or police in connection with the case filed by Kumar. He promised to extend full cooperation to police in the investigation.

A case of cheating was booked against Suresh on Friday on the direction of a city court.

Kumar had approached the court complaining that the producer and his son took the money in instalments from him during 2018 to make a movie. The petitioner claimed that the producer had promised to take him as assistant producer for a film to be made under the direction of Malineni Gopichand.

The financier informed the court that believing their word he paid them the amount but they cheated him. The court had directed the police to book a case against Suresh and Srinivas.

The CCS police booked a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 417, 420 (cheating) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy)

As part of the investigation, the police asked the complainant to appear before the investigating officer with relevant documents and record his statement.