Jayashankar Bhupalpally: Regonda police on Wednesday arrested a man for allegedly extorting money from government officials posing as a Sub-Inspector of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). They also seized Rs 20,000 cash and two cell phones from him. The accused was identified as Patti Srinivas Reddy alias Venkatesh of Kanaparthy village of Veenavanka mandal in Karimnagar district.
Presenting him before the media at Regonda police station, Bhupalpally DSP A Sampath Rao said Srinivas Reddy was extorting money from officers in several mandals in Bhupalpally district. “The accused recently called up the Assistant Engineer (AE) of Panchayat Raj Department at Regonda mandal and demanded Rs 1.50 lakh from him stating that the ACB would close the ‘inquiry’ against him on corruption charges.
The AE, however, got suspicious and approached the police. Subsequently, the police led by Circle Inspector Puli Venkat Goud and Sub-Inspector Gurram Krishna Prasad Goud tried to nab him by keeping a vigil at the check-post. They found a person moving suspiciously near the check post and took him into custody. “During the questioning, it was found that he was fake ACB officer Srinivas Reddy,” the DSP said, adding that he was a habitual offender who collected money from several officers posing as an ACB officer in the past and was also arrested several times.
He also threatened several traders and others posing as a Maoist in Jammikunta areas and extorted money in the past. “There are a total of 11 cases against him under different police stations limits,” the DSP said. He along with the assistance of a woman with whom he came in contact collected the money. CI Venkat Goud and SI Krishna Prasad were present at the press meet.
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