The Central Crime Station (CCS) police, Hyderabad, on Tuesday (May 13, 2025) arrested businessman and managing director of a Telugu TV channel, A. Shravan Kumar Rao, in connection with a ₹6.58 crore iron ore trade scam.

Rao was named in a complaint filed by Akarsh Krishna, director of Akhand Infratech India Pvt Ltd, who alleged that Rao posed as an intermediary for Karnataka-based Acore Industries Pvt Ltd.

Rao was accused of luring the company into transferring large sums under the pretext of buying and selling iron ore, promising a profit of ₹300 per tonne. Between November 2022 and December 2023, over ₹6.5 crore was transferred from Akhand Infratech’s Axis Bank account in Banjara Hills to Acore Industries’ Canara Bank account in Sandur, Bellary district.

The complainant alleged that no iron ore was ever supplied and that all communications, including fabricated invoices, were routed through Rao and his accountant. A token repayment of ₹50 lakh was made in September 2024, after which Rao and his associates allegedly evaded further contact. Police said Rao’s wife, Swathy Rao, and two other associates — Uma Maheshwar Reddy and K.B. Vedamurthy — were suspected of playing active roles in the alleged fraud.

CCS officials said that Rao was arrested at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. The case is being probed by the ACP of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Team-IX of Hyderabad CCS.

Rao’s arrest comes weeks after he appeared before police in a separate high-profile case: the 2024 phone-tapping scandal. Registered at Panjagutta police station on March 10 last year, the case involves unauthorised surveillance of political figures. Rao, listed as accused no. 6, fled the country on March 14, 2024 — a day after a key co-accused was arrested — and returned only after the Supreme Court granted him interim protection from arrest in March 2025.

On March 30, 2025, Rao was questioned for six hours at Jubilee Hills police station. Investigators are examining his alleged role in collecting political intelligence at the behest of Prabhakar Rao, the main accused. Despite his denials, police sources said digital evidence and seized items from his home link him to the covert operation.