Kadiri: A special CBI court found former Kadiri MLA and TDP leader Kandikunta Venkat Prasad guilty of swindling Rs 4 crore from a State Bank India (SBI) branch using stolen Demand Drafts. It sentenced him to five year jail term.

In 2003, Venkat Prasad had colluded with Hussaini Alam SBI branch assistant manager Narsinga Rao and sub-inspector Venkat Mohan to withdraw the money. The court also held the bank official and the SI guilty and awarded them three years of imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5.10 lakh on Venkat Prasad, Rs 45,000 on Narsinga Rao and Rs 35,000 on Venkat Mohan.

The SBI had lodged a complaint with the police accusing the MLA of stealing DDs from the bank with the help of the employee and withdrawing money using them. The case was later handed over to the CBI. Earlier in 2016, the Nampally court convicted the legislator for cheating Punjab National Bank, Sanath Nagar, in a similar DD scam. The court had found him guilty of withdrawing Rs 8.29 crore using stolen DDs.

Interestingly, while TDP MLC Vakati Narayana Reddy and MLC Deepak Reddy were suspended after cases of financial misdemeanor were filed agains tthem, Chandrababu spared Venkata Prasad for reasons best known to him.. This apart, he was provided with a security of 2+2 gunmen.

Venkataparasad was a trusted follower of Paritala Ravi. He is suspected to have a role in the murder of Obul Reddy. He was MLA from Kadiri from 2009 to 2014. He was known as Bengaluru Prasad due to his active involvement in the land deals in Bengaluru. Known for his hot temperament, had attacked BJP candidate Parthasarathi in the 2014 elections. Parthasarathi was the alliance candidate, while Prasad was a rebel candidate.