Fake NIA official arrested in Hanamkonda

KUC police arrested one, seized a dummy pistol and other items from him.

Hanamkonda: Kakatiya University Campus police on Monday arrested a 20-year-old man, who allegedly posed as an official of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and collected money from people.

Narla Naresh of Pothireddypally village of Pedda Adisarlapally mandal in Nalgonda, had four cases, two each in the KUC and Jagtial police stations, registered against him, police said.

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In a press note here, Warangal police commissioner Tarun Joshi said the police had nabbed Naresh during a vehicle check when he was moving around on a motorcycle under suspicious circumstances. The police found an army uniform and a fake ID card of the NIA apart from a fake pistol from him, the CP said.

“During interrogation, Naresh confessed that he had procured the pistol and other paraphernalia to convince innocent students that he was working for the Army in February. Later, he cheated five youngsters from his village promising jobs in the Merchant Navy.

He collected Rs 5 lakh each from them and took them to Sangli in Maharashtra and got them enrolled in one Vyshnavi Career Foundation for training. The youngsters later came to know they were cheated and pressurised him to return their money. His parents then sold a part of their farmland and returned the money to four of them, Joshi said.

Meanwhile, Naresh read about the NIA raids on PFI and decided to move around posing as an NIA official. He recruited two students, Nelapatla Rajesh and Dava Vinay Babu from Hanamkonda, and threatened some people using the fake pistol saying he would arrest them for their links with the PFI. He demanded money from them to avoid the arrest. However, the victims approached the police, following which the KUC police formed a special team and nabbed Naresh, Joshi said.