A man was arrested on Thursday for impersonating an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) official and demanding money from an MLA, in Andhra’s Chittoor district. According to Chittoor police, the accused, Harikrishna, claimed to be an ACB officer and tried to intimidate Chittoor MLA Arani Srinivasulu by saying that raids were imminent on local political leaders.
Chittoor police told the media that the MLA received a call from the accused on October 4, claiming that he was a DySP (Deputy Superintendent of Police) with the ACB, Deccan Chronicle reported. Police said that after trying to intimidate the MLA by speaking about ACB raids happening very soon, he claimed that he and his team were at a hotel nearby and asked the MLA to send Rs 7,000 for their expenses through a UPI app.
Having paid the amount, the MLA then informed police about the call, and the accused was caught by tracing the number through which he contracted the MLA. Deccan Chronicle reported that Chittoor Town police booked a case under sections 410 (Stolen property) and 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and investigated the matter.
Chittoor police also said that the accused had been previously arrested in cheating cases in multiple locations across Chittoor district, including Punganur, Tirupati, Baireddipalle, and Bangarupalem. Explaining his modus operandi, police said that Harikrishna would cheat unemployed youngsters by promising government jobs.
Police said that Harikrishna would call youngsters for interviews for the promised jobs, and then tell them their appearance was not appropriate. He would find fault with their clothes or facial hair, and take them to a nearby place to get them to change their look. Having acquired the information to access their phone, he would ask them to change and meanwhile, access their phone and transfer money out of their accounts, police said.