Part 1
'I'm young because I take this'

Part 3
'He was a smooth operator'

Part 2

Lakireddy Balireddy's arrest may have belittled the Indians living in the United States. But back home in Velvadam, Mylavaram, and adjoining villages, he still reigns supreme.

The villagers are not shocked by the charges he face. On the contrary, they defend, praise and worship Balireddy. He is their messiah.

'Reddy is our Mother Teresa,' reads a banner in Mylavaram. 'Reddy is god's gift,' another, sponsored by the Lions Club of Mylavaram, proclaims. More of such banners -- 'We pray for Balireddy,' 'Save Balireddy' -- hang in the schools and engineering college he has built.

Balireddy thrived on philanthropy. Had it not been for him, a concrete elementary and higher secondary school would not have come up in the village. Had it not been for him, an engineering college would not have been sanctioned in Mylavaram. He built five temples for Lord Krishna, his dearest Hindu god.

He donated lavishly for the village. At least 1,000 families in Mylavaram have benefited from Balireddy's largesse. Nobody knows the number of people he has helped migrate to America. But rough estimates say at least 500 -- nearly half of them young girls -- have gone over from Krishna district, thanks to Balireddy.

Velvadam Sarpanch Addagari Rosaiah says Balireddy has helped every one in his village. "He gave money for temple festivals. He got jobs for the villagers. If this village is prosperous today, it is because of Reddy," he holds.

Rosaih feels the charges against Balireddy in America are "false." "Americans are jealous that an Indian is rich in their country," the sarpanch, who gets Rs 5,000 whenever Reddy comes home, says.

When stories about Reddy's arrest began doing the rounds, Rosaiah convened a meeting of the villagers who joined hands to fight "the untruth" against Reddy through hoardings and banners.

Rosaih alleges it is the Kamma community -- the Reddys's "enemies" in the village -- who are spreading rumours against his lord and master.

"Many Kammas here do not like him because he is rich," he says.

The sarpanch adds he is trying his best to ensure that the affair does not turn into a caste war between the Kamma and Reddy communities.

Satyanarana Murthy, employed in the temple outside Balireddy's mansion, says Balireddy's love for Velvadam and its inhabitants began some 14 years ago, after one of his sons, Rajkumar Reddy, a medical student, died in a road accident in Madras.

Balireddy then built a kalyanmandapam [marriage hall] in his son's memory. "He comes and prays before his son's memorial every year," says Murthy. "He is a nice man. People are spreading false propaganda against him out of jealousy."

Villagers say Reddy was born poor and he never forgot his roots. Memoirs of his poor upbringing hang across the walls of his bungalow. The photograph of his father Ram Reddy in front of his dilapidated hut is juxtaposed with Reddy's Pasand Madras Cuisine hotels in Berkeley and Santa Clara.

These days, villagers often flock to Balireddy's mansion to pray for him. A regular among such is Yellanki Venkateswarlu, whose daughter Lakshmi was 17-year-old Sitha's room mate in the now-infamous Berkeley apartment.

Venkateswarlu is not angry at Balireddy for the death of his daughter's companion. He says the NRI "could never have exploited the children of Velvadam."

Venkateswarlu's daughter Lakshmi was working in Balireddy's house as a maid when luck smiled on her. During one of his vacations, Reddy decided to take Lakshmi along with him.

"I agreed. I have faced no problems till today after my daughter went to America. She regularly sends me money," says Venkateswarlu.

Villagers like Venkateswarlu, who survive on the money their daughters send from America, are not bothered where and how their children work.

"We have not yet received a single complaint against Balireddy. I have heard of his extravagant lifestyle and his weakness for women. But no villager has officially complained against him," says S Durga Rao, the sub-inspector at Mylavaram police station.

But then, not just anyone would dare complain against Balireddy.

There is another reason why a single finger will not be raised against him: political patronage. For instance, Andhra Pradesh Congress president Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has come out strongly in his support.

"I have known Balireddy for many years. He has been helping the poor people of Krishna district all these years. The allegations against him in the US are concocted and completely untrue," says Dr Reddy.

The state Congress president's defence of the Telugu NRI is not surprising: Rajasekhara Reddy's niece is married to one of Balireddy's sons.

ON TO PART 3: 'He was a smooth operator'

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