PUNE: A Hyderabad-based PhD holder in electronics & telecommunication (E&TC) with degrees from two prominent London universities has been arrested by Pune cyber police for defrauding a city educational institution of Rs 2.46 crore under the pretext of arranging governmentfunded research projects in drones and AI.
The accused, identified as Seetaiah Kilaru (34) of Meher Road, Yapral, Hyderabad, allegedly duped the institute between July 25 and Aug 7. Police said he tried similar scams on two other institutes in Pune and Chennai but failed. ACP (crime) Pankaj Deshmukh said, “Kilaru spent `1.50 crore on online betting. We recovered 10 debit cards, 13 passbooks, 15 cheque books, one SIM card, gold receipts, four mobile phones, a laptop, two cars, and cash worth `49.7 lakh from his possession. He gave Rs 25 lakh cash to his father-in-law, which is yet to be recovered, paid a year’s advance rent to his landlord, and bought a car worth Rs 27 lakh.” Asked how the police established his involvement and tracked him down, Deshmukh said, “Kilaru, impersonating an IIT Powai professor, called the former vice-chancellor of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) and asked him to refer him to an institution to which he could help secure govt funding in projects. The VC, believing him genuine, introduced him to senior officials of the Pune institute. Through follow-up calls and messages, Kilaru convinced the CEO to transfer funds in three installments, promising govt funding in return. When he failed to appear to sign an MoU, the institute grew suspicious.We later tracked his number through the VC’s call records and traced the money trail back to him.” Over the last two years, Kilaru has been named in four cheating and IT Act cases registered by the cybercrime police in Hyderabad, two cases by the Gachibowli police and two more cases by the Medipally police in Medchal Malkajgiri district. Pune police team camped in Hyderabad for two days to track Kilaru’s movements, and nabbed him early on Sunday. The team produced him before a court in Hyderabad, which ordered his transit remand, following which Kilaru was brought to Pune. On Tuesday, the police produced him before a Pune court which ordered his custodial remand till Sept 28.
