Hyderabad: Tollywood producer Natti Kumar has alleged that slain gangster Nayeemuddin had threatened him and forcefully grabbed his theatre in Narasannapeta by paying a meagre amount.
He said that producers like Bandla Ganesh, C. Kalyan and P. Ashok Kumar had links with Nayeem and had used him in land settlements, and added that Malkajgiri MLA Kanaka Reddy had given shelter to Nayeem’ s men at his guesthouse in Bolaram.
Mr Kumar also alleged that AP labour minister K. Acchennaidu, too, had used Nayeem for land settlements in the state.
He demanded a CBI inquiry into Nayeem’s operations spread over five states and said that he was ready to give information to SIT if asked and that he was also ready to face legal action if his allegations were proved wrong.
Mr Kumar said that he owned Venkateshwara Mahal theatre in Narasannapeta in Srikakulam district in AP, where Nayeem too owned three theatres. He had entered into an agreement with the landowner for leasing the land and had constructed the theatre. He had been running the theatre for the past 12 years.
One room in the theatre was allocated to the owner for his use. A year ago, he found that Mr Acchennaidu, along with his men, were doing a settlement related to a Rs 10 crore fraud of Delhi- based Moon Beverages Company in that room.
“The Rs 10 crore cheque was deposited at a bank in Odisha and the amount was transferred to Acchennaidu and his aides. Nayeem was instrumental in settling this deal. When I came to know that they are using the room in the theatre for all these issues, I told them to move out of the theater. Then Nayeem’s men threatened me and asked ne to hand over the theatre to them. When I resisted, along with local police, they threw me out of the theater and paid me just Rs 25 lakh,” he said.
He added that he had approached many police officers to complain against Mr Acchennaidu and Nayeem. But they had said that they were helpless and had suggested that he compromised and settle the issue.
“Even when they used weapons to threaten me, police refused to act saying it was a civil dispute,” said Mr Kumar.
He stated that noted producer Bandla Ganesh had a debt of Rs 20 crore to pay to Mr Sachin Joshi, but when he failed to pay, Mr Joshi approa-ched Nayeem and he collected Rs 8.5 crore from Ganesh.
He said that he was not revealing the information for publicity, but due to threat from Nayeem’s team. “One of my friends, who is a TRS leader and a former MLA, alerted me of an attack from Nayeem. Since then I have been alert. I do not need police protection. I trust myself,” he said, adding that he had written to the RBI and the Andhra Pradesh government on this issue, but there had been no response.
