There is something about the Indian Premier League (IPL) that inevitably seems to bring bad luck to team owners. After liquor baron Vijay Mallya, the latest casualty is Deccan Chronicle chairman T Venkattram Reddy, owner of the now erstwhile Deccan Chargers.  Reddy, on February 14, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) for banking loan fraud.

In fact, Reddy, with his penchant for the good things in life such as “the choicest cigars”, is widely believed to have modeled himself of Mallya.  But since Reddy, during his good days, always remained in the shadow of his more flamboyant role model, we figured we should at least give him some space now.

So, who is this longhaired Vijay Mallya wannabe?

Son of Chandrasekhar Reddy, a businessman and Congress politician, Reddy reportedly wound up most of of his father’s business to concentrate on Deccan Chronicle.  Apart from the Deccan Chronicle, he also owns The Asian Age, another national daily. Reddy is also a connoisseur of horseracing, and his Secundarabad office is known to be full of trophies he picked up in the Hyderabad Race Course.  His other interests include expensive watches and cars, and of course, the choicest of cigars. He was also a Congress member of the Rajya Sabha – an engagement that didn’t go beyond the first term.

How did he make it big?

According to a profile of Reddy in the Business Standard, he began as a “prudent” businessman, and worked his way up, making some genuinely smart moves along the way. In 2005-06, Reddy spearheaded a more than 50 per cent growth in profit Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (Deccan Chronicle’s Holding Company) – a phenomenal figure by any standards.

On the editorial front, he roped in MJ Akbar, one of the country’s well known newspaper editors. He had envisioned Deccan Chronicle as a young paper, meant to cater to the 18-35 demography – again a smart business move since its direct competition in Southern markets was The Hindu, not really known for being youthful.

What led to the fall?

The trigger, it seems, was his foray into the IPL, which incidentally also was the beginning of him being besotted with Mallya. From growing his hair to flying chartered planes, he did all that Mallya was famous for.  One thing led to another, and soon the company, owing to indiscriminate borrowings to keep up with Reddy’s extravagant business choices, was under serious debt. Stock prices spiraled downwards and consistently so, as is evident from the chart below.

According to a report in the India Today, PK Iyer, a long time associate and confidante of his, also did him in, who in a case of major corporate fraud, allegedly pledged non-existent shares to Future Group to raise Rs 170 crore.

What has been exactly arrested for, though?

This particular case pertains to a case filed by the Canara Bank, which alleges Reddy had “entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat Canara Bank’s Secunderabad Branch”. Long story short: they had over-borrowed, by suppressing information about other liabilities. The total loss suffered by the bank due to Reddy’s “criminal conspiracy” is pegged at Rs 357.77 crore.

Is it game over for Reddy?

His idol and fashion guru, Mallya, has three criminal cases against him by the Income Tax Department. Accused of not remitting almost Rs 400 crore Tax Deducted At Source (TDS) to the government, Mallya is a free man and no one appears in any hurry to press charges against him. Going by the country’s history of convicting people with clout (or rather, the lack thereof), there is no reason why this bit of the two scripts shouldn’t match too.