The Hyderabad police arrested a man who pretended to be a Personal Secretary of Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao. The unidentified man was demanding money from people and business establishments in the form of donations, according to the police.
The man approached businessmen and establishments claiming to be Tirupati, a personal assistant of Minister KT Rama Rao. A case against him was filed by Rainbow hospital at Road No 2 with the Banjara Hills police station. The complaint stated that the person demanded money from the hospital. The hospital management grew suspicious of the caller and alerted the police. The police then booked a case and upon enquiry found that similar cheating cases were also booked in two other police stations.
The North Zone Task Force in coordination with the Banjara Hills police and the Osmania University police took the man into custody on Monday, reported Times of India.
The man had earlier duped a businessman of Rs 1 lakh claiming that the money was for the minister as he is expected to become Chief Minister of the state soon, reported The New Indian Express. The businessman registered the complaint after realizing he has been duped. Police have not released the name of the accused.
This is not the first time that people have impersonated the personal assistant of minister KT Rama Rao. The personal assistants of the minister operate the social media accounts of the minister and often act as a conduit for people seeking medical assistance over social media.
In December 2019, the Malkajgiri police arrested two persons for duping several people. The police arrested R Karthikeya, a 51-year-old Chartered accountant and Fredric Taylor a 44-year-old mechanical engineer for the office. Police say Karthikeya used to meet government officials at the Secretariat and learnt personal details about the minister’s personal assistants. The duo used to then reach out to government officials, seeking favours.
In 2016, police had arrested a man identified as R Surya Prakash Chary for posing a principal secretary to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. The man was seeking money in the form of donations.