Vijayawada: With the police assuring justice to all victims of the call money racket across the city, more people are coming forward with complaints.
On Monday over 10 persons including a woman approached police commissioner D. Gautam Sawang and complained against call moneylenders who were harassing them. However, none of them was a vcitim of the extortion mafia that exploited women.
The commissioner, speaking to the media late on Sunday, had called upon lenders to settle issues with their borrowers and stop such illegal practices.
YSRC MLA Uppuleti Kalpana, Ms Tatineni Padmavati, Congress women’s president Ms Sunkara Padmasri and others too met the commissioner and sought speedy investigation into the case and a stop to the call money practice in the city. Many victims said that they were being harassed by the lenders who were charging high interest rates.
MLA denies links with mafia
Penamaluru TD MLA Bode Prasad on Monday denied allegations that he had connections with the extortion mafia which was sexually exploiting women who were unable to pay back loans.
The MLA said that Srikanth Venigalla, one of the accused in the case, was only a friend and that he was unaware of his activities. “I have never invested in any call money business and people who don’t want to see me grow are trying to defame me by linking me to the racket,” Mr Prasad said, adding, “I myself have debts to clear. Why will I invest in someone else’s business?”
After the gang was busted following a complaint from a woman, it was alleged that the MLA had been supporting the mafia through his friend Srikanth.
Opposition parties also alleged that the MLA had gone on foreign trips with the accused and pictures of the same could be seen on the MLA’s Facebook account.
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