<![CDATA[The Central Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested the prime suspect in a series of major land fraud cases from Kolhapur in Maharashtra. He was absconding for nearly three years. Police told that S. Venkataramanan, 57, was named the key accused in three cases of fraud to the tune of Rs.40 crore. Four years ago, D. Pradeep Kumar lodged a complaint with the Commissioner of Police, alleging that Dream Castle Service Private Limited, owned by Venkatramanan, received a payment of Rs.1.70 crore for buying 35 acres in Karunilam, Chengalpattu taluk, to develop residential plots. But Venkatramanan executed a registration deed for the 1.87-acre plot worth Rs.9.37 lakh and obtained a power of attorney in his favour from Pradeep. The accused then divided the property into plots and sold them, but did not give any money to Pradeep. Similarly, Venkatramanan cheated KRV Properties and a man named Kiran Vargeesh to the tune of Rs.38 crore. Investigations revealed that Venkatramanan bought helicopters with the money and ran a rental service in Mumbai, Goa, Jaipur and other cities. When his venture turned unsuccessful, he began working in a logistics firm in Kolhapur. Mr. S. Janakiraman, Inspector of Police, told that on receiving information about his whereabouts, plainclothes police personnel moved to the area where he was living. They posed as electricity board employees and entered his house before arresting him. Venkatramanan was brought to Chennai and remanded to judicial custody.]]>
