Disha encounter movie: Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma booked for cheating associate producer of Rs 56L

Hyderabad: Police have booked filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma for cheating an associate producer of Rs 56 lakh on the pretext of making a film on the 2019 Disha encounter case. K Sekhar Raju alleged that Ram Gopal Varma took money from him promising to produce the film on Disha's encounter case. Later, Sekhar Raju said he came to know that Varma was not producing the film.

Sekhar Raju approached the local court at Kukatpally which directed the Miyapur police to file an FIR against Varma.

Varma has been booked under section 406 (criminal breach of trust), 417(cheating), 420( Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and 506(criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal court. K Sekhar Raju, the proprietor of Sekhara Art Creations said he got acquainted with Ram Gopal Varma through a common friend in 2019.

In the first week of January 2020, Varma took Rs 8 lakh loan for his film. In the third week, Varma again requested to lend Rs 20 lakh. Sekhar Raju transferred money through cheque and the accused promised to repay the money within six months. Later, in the second week of February 2020, Varma again contacted him and requested to lend Rs 28 lakh by citing financial exigencies. Varma disclosed to the petitioner that he is producing a Telugu move under the name and title of Disha which is based on a real-life incident.

Varma also told Sekhar Raju that the budget for the movie had escalated and as the result, he is facing a financial crunch. Sekhar Raju again transferred Rs 28 lakh. Varma took Rs 56 lakh as a hand loan from Raju at different intervals. The accused agreed to repay the money on or before the release of Disha.

Later in January 2021, the petitioner came to know that Varma is not producing the movie. Sekhar Raju alleged that Varma has cheated him by false representation of being a producer of Disha. He said he extracted hard-earned money by false inducements.