The police while confirming that some part of the money left behind by the autoricksaw driver near the DGP’s office was withdrawn from a bank, the source of the rest of the money is yet to be verified.
Central Zone DCP Tarun Joshi said, “We have verified with the Domalguda branch of Andhra Bank; his claim of withdrawing the money is true; Rs.4.98 crore was withdrawn from the bank on Wednesday.” He added it was still to be verified whether the rest of the money — Rs 1.72 crore had come from the trust in Kurnool as had been claimed by Mr Rama Rao.
“Rama Rao said that his aide Vamsi was transporting the money from Koti to Ameerpet in an autorickshaw to hand it over to a real estate agent named Ansari to seal a land deal in Mysore for constructing a Balasai ashram.”
On Wednesday, when his autorickshaw had broken down in front of the DGP’s office, Vamsi, Mr Rama Rao’s aide, had fled from the spot leaving the cash-filled bags in the autorickshaw; he is still absconding, the realtor said.
Sources said that Mr Rama Rao is a native of Kurnool and runs a real estate business. He is a key member of the trust and manages many of its crucial affairs.
Balasai, known as Bhagwan Balasai, has a striking resemblance to Satya Sai Baba who passed away last year. He has a large following spread all over the world. The ashram in Hyderabad is located in Domalguda.