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Former vice-chairman of Krushi Bank surrenders

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

K Venugopal Rao, former vice-chairman of Krushi Co-operative Urban Bank and one of the accused in the scam case, surrendered before the police on Wednesday evening.

The state government announced a reward of Rs 500,000 for clues on the whereabouts of the bank's former chairman K Venkateswara Rao and eight other directors, who are still at large.

Venugopal Rao, ex-director of Krushi Bank and brother of the bank's former chairman, came to the state police office and surrendered before the deputy superintendent of police (crime investigation department) Mohammed Wajid Siddiqui, who is the investigating officer in the multi-million-rupee Krushi Bank scam case. The CID officials took him into custody for interrogation at 4.30 pm.

His lawyer Ramesh Chowdary, who accompanied Venugopal Rao to the DGP's office, told rediff.com that "Venugopal Rao approached me for bail. He told me that he is innocent. I advised him to surrender before the police and give all the information that he has and cooperate with the investigation. Hence, he came to surrender."

Venugopal Rao also denied that he had anything to do with the Krushi Bank or its operations. "I am not at all connected with the scam. I am educated up to seventh class only. My brother (Venkateswara Rao) made me vice-chairman of the bank but I am no way involved with its day-to-day affairs. Wherever my brother asked me to sign, I did. But I am in no way concerned with the bank's business," he told newsmen.

Asked why it took several days for him to surrender, he said that he was thinking that his brother would come and surrender and he would follow suit. "Finally, on lawyer's advice, I decided to surrender," he said and claimed that "I have no money and no assets. I have nothing."

Venugopal Rao went to the central crime station (detective department) of the city police to surrender. But the DCP advised him to go to the CID office since the case was handed over to the CID.

Thereafter, Venugopal Rao rushed to the CID office even as a battery of newsmen, photographers and TV crews gathered there.

The bank's ex-chairman Venkateswara Rao is still at large, even as the CID has launched a manhunt for him and despatched special teams to Delhi and Bombay to trace him out. The CID has asked the regional passport officer, Hyderabad to impound his passport and alerted the immigration officials not to allow him to leave the country.

Another ex-director of the bank, K Suneetha, sister of Venkateswara Rao, is also untraceable.

The CID is also on the lookout for seven other ex-directors V V A Prasad, K Sridhar, Sri Ranga Sai, K Ramesh, R Ramamoorthy, P D Dina Chakravarthy and G Ram Babu.

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