Udathaneni Vikas Chowdhary, v. The State Of Telangana,

IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT

HYDERABAD THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.5055 of 2026 DATE: 22.04.2026 Between:

Udathaneni Vikas Chowdhary

...Petitioner/accused

AND The State of Telangana, Rep. by its Public Prosecutor, High Court at Hyderabad.

.... Respondent/Complainant

O R D E R

This Criminal Petition is filed before this Court for grant of bail to the Petitioner who is arrayed as accused in Crime No.234 of 2025 before the V.M. Banjar Police Station, Khammam District, registered for the offences punishable under Section 111, 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338 read with 3(5) of BNS and Section 66-D of IT Act, 2000-2008.

- 2 - 2.

The brief facts of the case are that according to the prosecution, the de facto complainant was induced by accused No.1 and others, including the petitioner, on the promise of providing employment or a share in business, to open bank accounts in his name during the years 2022 and 2024. It was alleged that the accused obtained control over the said accounts and misused them to route money obtained through cyber fraud, resulting in registration of Crime No.234 of 2025 at V.M. Banjara Police Station.

3.

Heard Sri T. Anirudh Reddy, learned counsel for petitioner as well as Sri M. Ramachandra Reddy, learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondentState. 4.

Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that, earlier the petitioner herein has filed an anticipatory bail petition and this Court while disposing the bail petition had directed the petitioner herein to surrender before the trial Court and inspite of accepting the same, other case is registered against the petitioner herein and he was arrested in Crime No.86 of 2026 and subsequently, on 12.03.2026, the petitioner herein was produced on P.T. Warrant and

- 3 - remanded to the judicial custody and on 23.02.2026, he was arrested with regard to Crime No.86 of 2026. It is further submitted that except the offence under Sections 338 and 111 of the BNS, all the offences are punishable below seven years and all the other accused are released on bail and he is ready to cooperate with the investigating authority.

Therefore, he prayed the Court to grant bail to him by allowing this criminal petition.

5.

On the other hand, the learned Additional Public Prosecutor opposed the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner, contending that the allegations against the petitioner are serious in nature. It was submitted that the petitioner obtained substantial amounts under the pretext of facilitating certain transactions, and subsequently transferred those amounts to another account after converting them into cryptocurrency.

Further, the investigation is not yet completed. Therefore, he prayed the Court to dismiss the criminal 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 herein is in jail since

- 4 - 23.02.2026. The allegations against the petitioner are similar in nature to those made against the other accused, who have already been granted bail. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature of the allegations, the duration of incarceration, the progress in the investigation, this Court finds it appropriate to grant bail to the petitioner, subject to the following conditions:

i.

The petitioner shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only), with two sureties for a like sum each to the satisfaction of the learned Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate, at Sathupally.

ii.

The petitioner shall appear before the concerned SHO at 11:00 a.m., on every Wednesday for a period of eight (8) weeks or till filing of charge sheet whichever is earlier, for the purpose of investigation, and thereafter, as and when required.

- 5 - iii.

The petitioner shall abide by the conditions stipulated in Section 437(3) of Cr.P.C. (presently, Section 480(3) of the BNSS).

7.

Accordingly, the Criminal petition is allowed. Miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall stand closed.

_______________ K. SUJANA, J Date: 22.04.2026 TU

- 6 - THE HON'BLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.5055 OF 2026 DATE : 22.04.2026 TU