The Cyber Crime police in Hyderabad on Monday arrested a man who allegedly falsely claimed to be an employee of the Secretariat and cheated legislators and other public representatives, on the pretext of providing loans.
Police said that the accused, who has been identified as Thota Balaji Naidu, would pose as the Deputy Secretary of the Finance Department and call up MLAs, ex-MLAs and MPs.
"He would collect the phone numbers of public representatives from the party offices and legislature offices. He would impersonate a finance deputy secretary and lure people stating that central government funds in crores has been sanctioned for their constituency under the Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP). The accused collects an initial deposit of 5 per cent of the desired loan amount through online transfers," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Cyber Crime, K C S Raghu Vir was quoted as saying.
The modus operandi of the accused, who was reported to be a former employee of NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation), came to light after he allegedly cheated Musheerabad MLA Muta Gopal’s son, Muta Jaisimha.
Jaisimha deposited Rs 2.5 lakh in the accused's bank account and later sent his aides to the Secretariat to meet Naidu. However, when they visited the premises, they found out that there was no such person working in the post as claimed. Realising that he had been duped, Jaisimha approached the cyber crime police and filed a complaint.
Upon further investigation, police said that the accused had also cheated former Badrachalam MLA Kunja Satyavathi in a similar manner, asking her to deposit Rs 50,000.
A case has been registered under Section 419 (Cheating by personation) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the IPC, besides relevant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act. The accused has been taken into custody and further investigation is ongoing.