The Hyderabad police Wednesday announced the arrest of a 19-year-old man from Rajasthan for allegedly impersonating senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers online and fraudulently obtaining money from their contacts. They said he was involved in two similar cyber fraud cases in Telangana.
The accused, identified as Arbaj Khan, is a resident of Bahadurpur Patti Meeran in Alwar of Rajasthan. He was arrested based on a complaint from senior Telangana IAS officer Navin Mittal. The probe found that the accused created fake Facebook and Whatsapp accounts in the name of IPS and IAS officers, cheated their colleagues, and extorted money from them. In one instance, the accused allegedly tricked one of Mittal’s friends into sending Rs 99,000 by claiming to be selling household items.
According to the police, the fraudulent account was used to send friend requests and solicit money from the complainant’s friends and relatives. The accused also allegedly used the complainant’s photographs to create multiple fake profiles, falsely claiming to be a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer, and sent inappropriate and misleading messages. He was creating fake DPs and collecting money, the police added. A mobile phone used in the commission of the crime has been seized.
The Hyderabad cybercrime police registered a First Information Report (FIR) under sections 66 C, 66 D (cybercrimes involving identity theft and cheating by personation using computer resources) of the Information Technology Act, and 318(4) (cheating), 319(2)(cheating by personation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitha (BNS).
The accused was brought to Hyderabad on a transit warrant and remanded in judicial custody by a local court Wednesday. The police issued an advisory to the public to remain vigilant and not fall prey to messages or friend requests on social media platforms that claim to be from senior government officials and request money.
