Finally, former chief executive officer of TV9 V Ravi Prakash had to face the inevitable situation which he had been avoiding for the last six months.
The Hyderabad police who arrested Ravi Prakash on Saturday morning produced him before the court late in the evening after conducting all the medical tests as per formalities. And the court sent him to 14 days judicial custody.
Amidst tight police bandobust, Ravi Prakash was shifted to Chanchalguda jail. Of course, his lawyers applied for a bail for him, but it is unlikely that he might get one immediately.
In the meantime, the police would also file a petition seeking police custody of Ravi Prakash.
West Zone Deputy Superintendent of Police B Sumathi said Ravi Prakash was arrested following a complaint lodged by the management of Associated Broadcasting Company Limited (ABCL), which runs the TV9 channel.
“Prima facie, there is evidence that he had siphoned off Rs 18.31 crore from the company without the knowledge of the board of directors. A case was registered against Ravi Prakash under various sections of Indian Penal Code, including cheating and criminal breach of trust,” Sumati said.
The ABCL management alleged that Ravi Prakash and his associate M K V N Murthy had drawn huge sums from the bank accounts of the company without substantiating any entitlement under law and without board approval.
“This amounts to cheating, gross misappropriation of funds, causing wrongful loss to the company and thereby getting personal benefit at the cost of the company,” he said.