Rice dealer arrested for duping farmers in Andhra’s Bapatla ..
VIJAYAWADA: A trader from Komminenivaripalem of Bullikuruva mandal in
Bapatla district duped a group of farmers from the village by stalling payment after buying rice and corn stocks from them. He also lost 2 crore, including the money he borrowed from a few people, in online casino gaming. He went missing in August 2022, but police tracked him down on Thursday.
According to Ballikurava police, Ranga Pradeep (30), worked as a dealer in his village. He used to buy rice and corn stocks from farmers and sell them to a wholesale distributor in Kakinada to earn profit. He used to return the money to farmers in instalments as he received the amount. Other villagers who believed Pradeep also started selling their stocks to him. After a few days, Pradeep started delaying the payments to the farmers. When they pressured him for their money, he replied that the mills were yet to give him the money. When the farmers contacted millers, they said money was deposited in installments in the account as suggested by Pradeep.
Sensing the farmer’s anger, Pradeep left the village in August last year. A case was registered and the police launched a lookout for the accused. Later, police tracked him and shifted to the police station.
On Thursday, on learning that Pradeep was in police custody, farmers reached Ballikurava station in large numbers and demanded their money. However, Pradeep informed them that he did not have any cash left with him as he spent 2 crore, including the farmers’ money, to play online games.
Recommended for you
