Cops hunt for Telugu actor's kin in Rs.5 mn land scam

Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh), Sep 23 (IANS) A hunt is on for two people who defrauded Telugu actor Sarath Babu in a Rs.5 million property deal, police said Tuesday.

According to police officials, warrants have been issued against the alleged fraudsters.

Babu's distant relative Chinna alias Suresh, 39, allegedly forged the property papers of the actor's sprawling unfinished bungalow in a forest area and sold it to Nagarjuna Reddy, a developer based in Andhra Pradesh capital Hyderabad, some 500 km northeast of here, with the connivance of a local official, police said.

The actor came to know of the alleged fraud during his visit Monday and lodged a complaint a day later, which led to the discovery of the complicity of Ram Singh, a registrar, who is in jail charged with other frauds, police added.

Known as the eternal supporting star, the multilingual Sarath Babu has featured in over 150 Tamil, Telugu and Kannada movies.