Vijayawada: Vijayawada police arrested three accused in connection with the UPIX cheating case under Satyanarayanapuram Police Station Limits. The accused duped gullible people and collected Rs 353 crore and diverted around Rs 194 crore into their personal account.

They duped the people promising payment of double amount in one year. The commissioner of police SV Rajasekhara Babu on Saturday told the media that the Special Investigation Team was formed and the accused were arrested.

The arrested accused are Nidumolu Venkata Satya Lakshmi Kiran (33) from Satyanarayanapuram, Vijayawada, Mittapalli Rajendra Babu alias Raju (63), from Krishna Nagar, Guntur district and Mittapalli Rajeev Krishna (30) from Krishna Nagar, Guntur District.

In 2014, Satya Lakshmi Kiran established an animation company named UPIX on Adiseshayya Street in Satyanarayanapuram, Vijayawada. About 70 staff used to work there. During that time, Kiran came into contact with Peram Malyadri, his son Peram Maheshwara Reddy, Kotturi Venugopal Rao, Mittapalli Rajendra Babu and his son Mittapalli Rajeev Krishna.

The group formed an alliance in 2018 and launched a fraudulent investment scheme, claiming that if people invested Rs 10 lakh for 12 months, they would receive Rs 20 lakh, and similarly for Rs 1 crore they would get Rs 2 crore.

They promised unrealistically high returns in a short time and used this scheme to cheat innocent investors.

To build trust, the group initially showed fake profits on their own investments. They used manipulative tactics and false promises to lure people. They encouraged friends and family to deposit money, offering them commissions. Money they collected from investments was diverted into their personal accounts. Most victims were from Narasaraopet, Guntur, and Vijayawada. A total of 183 investors were reportedly cheated, losing around Rs 353 crore.

By the end of 2024, the accused had allegedly diverted around Rs 194 crore into their personal accounts. The CP had formed SIT, which successfully conducted inquiry and nabbed the accused.

CP Rajasekhara Babu has rewarded the police personnel with cash prizes and congratulated on apprehending the accused.The CP said on April 14, 2025 Tripuramallu Srinivasa Rao and Kalavakollu Dilip Kumar from Narasaraopet approached the police, alleging that they were cheated by a company named UPIX Creations located on Adiseshayya Street, in Satyanarayanapuram.

They stated that the company claimed to be involved in animation work for Hollywood films and presented itself as an international firm.

They were lured into investing, with promises of high returns, and were eventually cheated of the people. Based on the complaints, Satyanarayanapuram police registered two cases under various sections.

During the investigation, the following were seized: The police seized 354 grams of gold jewellry worth approximately Rs 90 lakh, 21 kg of silver ornaments, one XUV car, one BMW bike, several computers and bank accounts of the accused were frozen.