Hyderabad, Nov 26 A fraudster, who was cheating people by posing as an All India Service official and had even hired two bodyguards with weapons, has been arrested by Hyderabad police.
According to police, the accused Bathini Shashikanth had been cheating people for over two years by posing as an IAS or IPS officer.
He had even hired two bodyguards with weapons from Tamil Nadu, fixed a police siren to his vehicle and was also using walkie-talkies to make the victims believe that he was some high-ranking government official.
The 39-year-old was involved in a series of offences, including impersonation as senior government officers, cheating, forgery, criminal intimidation and extortion.
The accused has been misleading the public for over two years by posing as an IAS Officer in the capacity of Deputy Commissioner, Mines, and sometimes posing as an IPS/NIA officer. He extorted a huge amount of money from his victims.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Ch. Srinivas told media persons on Wednesday that, acting on credible information, the Film Nagar police conducted a swift operation and apprehended the accused from his temporary residence in Shaikpet.
Police acted on the complaint of Ali Hassan, managing director of a gym. The accused had collected Rs 10.50 lakh from Hassan with the promise of assisting in procuring industrial land and extending other official favours. However, he absconded after collecting the money.
Police seized two mobile phones, six SIM cards, two walkie-talkies, and fake ID cards from the accused.
The accused had created fake IAS/IPS/NIA identity cards, visiting cards, and forged documents. He had hired two bodyguards along with weapons from Tamil Nadu in order to portray himself as a senior government official.
He had fixed police sirens to a private vehicle and was also using walkie-talkies to imitate official communication. The accused was also circulating a forged industrial land allotment letter from the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) to cheat victims.
The DCP said Praveen and Vimal, who acted as personal bodyguards of the accused, were absconding.
The police advised citizens to remain alert, not to believe such persons/firms, pass on information to the police on such suspicious activities to curb them.
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