Hyderabad: The Central Crime Station (CCS) has re-registered two cheating cases transferred from the Punjagutta police station against representatives of Vihaan Direct Selling (India).In the first case, Sowmya Kulkarni (27), a company secretary from Kacheguda, told the police that she was lured into investing Rs 2.5 lakh after her professional acquaintance, Manisha Jawale, claimed Vihaan Direct Selling was partnering with reputed electronics and water purifier brands and promised high commissions on product sales.Kulkarni paid the amount online on Feb 26, 2021, and was assigned a distributor ID. Kulkarni said she received only books and video links during a month-long training conducted by Rahul Maleni and Vipin Bung, both of whom are allegedly facing cases in Cyberabad. “When I demanded a refund, the accused asked me to recruit fresh investors to get a refund,” the victim told the police. The case, registered at Punjagutta police station in 2021, was re-registered by CCS sleuths on Feb 24 under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act.In the second case, Romala Sumalatha (30), a private employee of Bagh Amberpet, accused her acquaintance Koppala Govind Rao (30) of persuading her to invest Rs 3.5 lakh in QNet, whose sub-franchisee is Vihaan Direct Selling, between March and Aug 2022, with a promise of monthly returns.She realised she had been duped when no payouts were made. Based on her complaint, Punjagutta police registered a cheating case in 2023. This case has also been transferred to the CCS and re-registered under sections 406, 420 of the IPC on Feb 24. “The cases have been transferred to the Economic Offences Wing of the CCS,” said a senior police official.
