Krushi Bank scamster to take lie-detector test

Koride Mahesh / TNN / Jul 12, 2006, 03:21 IST

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Former chairman of Krushi Bank Kosaraju Venkateshwara Rao had claimed that Agha threatened him to return the money as his bank was in serious trouble.

Krushi Bank scamster to take lie-detector test

HYDERABAD: Former chairman of Krushi Bank Kosaraju Venkateshwara Rao had claimed that he fled the country five years ago because of an alleged threat to his life from the then Charminar Bank chief, Syed Alamdar Hussain alias Sajjad Agha.
Now investigators can verify his claim when he will be subjected to a lie-detector test this week. The Krushi scamster told the Crime Investigation Department (CID) that he had faced a threat from Sajjad Agha and still feared the latter's relatives and friends.
Ever since he landed in Hyderabad, Rao has been saying that his life is in danger. He told reporters on several occasions that he would disclose the names of persons to the judge.
But when he was produced before the metropolitan sessions judge on July 7, he did not do do so. When the CID posed the same question during interrogation, he revealed that he had fled the country fearing for his life.

Agha committed suicide on Feb. 25, 2002 by shooting himself in the head in his car outside his Banjara Hills house. This was a few months after the Krushi Bank collapsed and Kosaraju Venkateshwara Rao fled the country. Charminar Bank had deposited about Rs 38 crore in Krushi. The latter paid back Rs 12 crore to Charminar Bank.
According to sources, Venkateshwara Rao had claimed that Agha threatened him to return the money as his bank was in serious trouble. As the pressure was mounting on him, he had no option but to flee the country, Rao told the interrogators.

Agha committed suicide as his bank was in trouble and was facing a serious financial crisis. The bank was not able to maintain the cash reserve ratio and statutory liquidity ratio fixed by the Reserve Bank of India. "Venkateshwara Rao must have been scared of Agha's followers as he used to keep a band of 10-12 people around him.
But there is no evidence of a life threat. The authenticity of his claim will be known after he is subjected to lie-detector test," a senior functionary of the CID told TOI.
The metropolitan sessions judge directed the Chanchalguda jail superintendent to conduct a lie-detector test on Venkateshwara Rao on July 12 and 13. The CID has prepared a list of 25 questions that would be handed over to the FSL to quiz Rao during the test.
The 25 questions pertain to his 'benami' accounts and properties in India and abroad. As he has been telling that he
had invested huge amounts in shares, the officials want to know whether he had parked all his money only in the share market. He told the police that he worked for 'Gowthami International' and was not the owner of the firm.
The judicial remand of Krushi Bank scamster Kosaraju Venkateshwara Rao was extended till July 25 on Tuesday. Rao was produced before the metropolitan sessions judge in Nampally, as his 14-day judicial remand ended on Tuesday.

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