Hyderabad: A tea vendor who stays at Tirumala was on Monday caught by an SOT team for cheating people. Spiritual leader Rambhoopal Reddy Y and his disciples from Karimnagar were cheated by him for RS.18 lakh.   

Several people from Hyderabad were also defrauded by the vendor who acted to be an official of Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams. He stayed in the lodges and became friends with the employees of the same. According to the sources, the victims were asked to transfer money into the lodge employees’ accounts and were promised that they would get jobs in TTD.