Hyderabad: Central Crime Station (CCS) investigators have arrested phone tapping caseaccused A Shravan Rao in a Rs 6.5 crore alleged cheating case registered against the businessman and three others, including his wife, recently.In a complaint, A Akarsh Krishna, director of city-based Akhand Infratech India Private Ltd, alleged that Shravan and his associates defrauded the company of over Rs 6.58 crore under the guise of an iron ore trading deal.They orchestrated a sophisticated fraud involving false representations and unauthorised transactions, the complainant alleged.Based on Krishna’s complaint, CCS police had registered a case on April 25 under Sections 316(5) (criminal breach of trustby banker, merchant, or agent), 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against Shravan, his wife A Swathy Rao, business associate KB Vedamurthy, and Acore Industries’ whole-time director Uma Maheshwar Reddy, who were named as co-accused.Subsequently, a notice was issued by the CCS police, asking Shravan to appear before the investigating officer (IO) for questioning.When he appeared before the IO on Tuesday, police confronted him with evidence given by the complainant, including WhatsApp chats and email correspondence. “After the questioning, Shravan was arrested and produced in a local court. He was sent to 14-day remand,” a senior police officer said.The alleged fraud began in June 2022 when Shravan, as director of Inrhythm Energy Private Ltd, approached Akhand Infratech, claiming he took over Acore Industries Private Ltd, based in Sandur, Karnataka. He reportedly proposed a deal in which Akhand Infratech would make payments to Acore Industries for iron ore, Krishna said.Akhand Infratech had transferred Rs 6.58 crore to Acore Industries’ bank account between Nov 2022 and Dec 2023. However, the complainant stated that no direct invoices were received from Acore Industries. All communications, including business terms and confirmations, came only through Shravan’s office, he claimed.The alleged fraud came to light in Dec 2023 when the expected iron ore deliveries, valued at Rs 7.08 crore, failed to materialise. Krishna claimed that after failed attempts to resolve the matter, Shravan fled abroad. Despite follow-ups with Shravan’s wife and Vedamurthy, the company only recovered Rs 50 lakh in Sept 2024.