Telangana CID granted six-day custody of Hyderabad Cricket Association office-bearers

Hyderabad: A local court in Malkajgiri on Wednesday granted six days’ custody of five accused in the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) funds misappropriation and forgery case to the CID for further investigation.

The court issued custody orders for A Jagan Mohan Rao, HCA president, Suneel Kante, HCA CEO, CJ Srinivasa Rao, HCA treasurer, Rajender Yadav, general secretary, Sri Chakra Cricket Club, and Kavitha, president, SCCC and wife of Rajender Yadav—until July 22. The CID prosecutor had sought 10 days’ custody, stating that the accused needed to be questioned in connection with alleged financial fraud and to gather leads regarding the whereabouts of absconding HCA secretary Devraj Ramchander.

Defence advocates opposed the custody petition, arguing that the FSL report regarding the forgery allegations had already been submitted to the CID and that further police custody was unnecessary, claiming the charges were baseless.

After hearing both sides, The court granted six days’ police remand, observing that there was a prima facie case of large-scale financial irregularities.

“The remand case diary and the FIR reflect allegations of misappropriation of substantial public funds and manipulation of official records. The investigating officer needs to confront the accused with documentary evidence, interrogate them on the alleged embezzlement, and recover original documents while also verifying related bank transactions,” the court said in its order.

The CID will begin custodial interrogation of the five accused from Thursday as part of its ongoing probe into the alleged financial misconduct within the HCA.

Summons issued

The HC summoned HCA secretary R Devraj and CEO Suneel Bose Kante to appear before the court on July 18 to explain their non-compliance with earlier court orders. Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka issued the summons while hearing a petition filed by Ganjam Decor Services, which alleged that HCA had failed to clear a pending bill of Rs 18.88 lakh for services rendered during matches at the stadium.