Mulagala Venkata Subrahmanya Sarma, v. The State Of Telangana, Rep. By Station House Officer/Sub Inspector Of Police,
IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF
TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.4782 of 2026 DATE : 13.04.2026 Between:
Mulagala Venkata Subrahmanya Sarma.
...Petitioner/Accused
AND The State of Telangana Rep. by Station House Officer/Sub Inspector of Police, Cyber Crimes Police Station, Cyberabad (through Public Prosecutor), High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad.
...Respondent
ORDER:
This Criminal Petition is filed before this Court for grant of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner who is arrayed as accused in Crime No.2657 of 2025 of Cyber Crimes Police Station, Cyberabad Commissionerate, registered for the offences punishable under Sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2), r/w 3(5) of the
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for short 'BNS') and under Section 66-D ITA-2000-2008.
2.
The brief facts of the case are that, on 28.10.2025, the de-facto complainant lodged a report before the police stating that the complainant was induced through an Instagram advertisement to invest in an online trading platform namely "Caplace/Quantum AI." Acting on the instructions of unknown persons posing as trading experts, the de-facto complainant deposited various amounts on different dates into bank accounts/UPI IDs provided by them, on the pretext of earning high profits through international trading. The accused persons initially gained his confidence by showing fictitious profits and permitting a partial withdrawal.
Subsequently, they compelled him to deposit further amounts citing margin requirements. In total, the complainant transferred Rs.12,12,030/-, out of which only Rs.89,677/- was returned. Thereafter, the accused persons stopped communication and the complainant realized that he had been cheated. Thus, the accused persons, by creating a fake trading platform and
misrepresenting facts, dishonestly induced the complainant and caused a wrongful loss of Rs.11,22,353/-. Hence, the complainant requested to take necessary action. Based on the said complaint, the police registered a case against the petitioner for the aforementioned offences.
3.
Heard M/s. Bharadwaj Associates, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner as well as Sri M. Ramachandra Reddy, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for respondent-State.
4.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner has no role in the alleged offence and has been falsely implicated in this case. It is further submitted that the petitioner being an operation manager in a Bank, is only permitted in opening of accounts of the customers and he had no knowledge about the alleged fraudulent activities. It is further submitted that out of 35 account holders, 17 belong to other states, whose KYC details were duly verified and processed to open the account. It is further submitted that the petitioner was earlier arrested in a similar complaint on 28.02.2026,
which was filed by the other de-facto complainant vide FIR No.27 of 2026 and the same was registered on 27.02.2026 and he was released on a regular bail. It is further submitted that though he was arrested in the said crime in the year 2026, his arrest was not regularized in the present crime. It is further submitted that the allegations in the present FIR and the allegations in the earlier FIR are similar in nature and further incarceration of the petitioner is not required. Therefore, he prayed the Court to grant bail to the petitioner by allowing this criminal petition.
5.
On the other hand, learned Addl. Public Prosecutor opposing the petition stating that the petitioner herein played a key role in facilitating the opening of mule bank accounts at the instance of the accused persons. It is further contended that, being an operation manager, the petitioner failed to verify the KYC details of the account holders and in collusion with the other accused, permitted the opening of such accounts, which were used for fraudulent activities. It is further contended that the petitioner was already arrested in a similar case vide FIR
No.27 of 2026 dated 27.02.2026 at Cyber Crimes Headquarters, Telangana and the present case pertains to Cyberabad Police Station, wherein his arrest is yet to be regularized. The allegations against the petitioner are severe in nature, therefore, he prayed the Court to dismiss the petition.
6.
In the light of the submissions made by both the learned counsel and upon perusal of the material available on record, it appears that the petitioner is arrayed as accused No.10 and the allegations against the petitioner is that he allowed the accused to open the mule accounts without verifying the KYC details and that the petitioner was previously arrested for the similar allegations vide FIR No.27 of 2026 and has been released on bail. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature of the allegations, the stage of investigation, and the duration of incarceration and also considering the allegations in the present FIR and the allegations in the earlier FIR, this Court deems it fit to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner, subject to compliance of the following conditions:
i.
The petitioner shall surrender before the Station House Officer, Cybercrimes Police Station, Cyberabad, within two weeks from today, and on such surrender, the said Station House Officer shall release him on bail, on petitioner executing a personal bond for Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only), with two sureties, for the like sum each.
ii.
The petitioner shall abide by the other conditions stipulated in Section 482(2) of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and cooperate with the Investigating Officer in investigating the case.
iii.
The petitioner shall appear before the concerned Investigating Officer on every Wednesday between 09:00 a.m, and 05:00 p.m., till the filing of the charge sheet and thereafter, as and when required.
7.
Accordingly, the Criminal petition is allowed.
Miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall stand closed.
_______________ K. SUJANA, J Date: 13.04.2026 SRK
THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.4782 of 2026 Date: 13.04.2026 SRK