Bengaluru: Three fake I-T officers arrested

Bengaluru: Three fake Income Tax officials, including two BE graduates, were arrested after they demanded a ransom of Rs 10 crore from a priest to avoid a raid at his house.

They were arrested red-handed by the Yeshwanthpur police on Friday, based on a complaint filed by the priest’s wife Veena Ganesh.

The accused have been identified as Venkatesh (24), a resident of Yeshwanthpur, and his friend Vivek (22), a native of Nanjangud in Mysuru district, both BE graduates from a city-based engineering college and unemployed, and Kumar (44) from Adugodi.

According to police, the engineering graduates stayed near the priest Ganesh’s house in Yeshwanthpur and were looking out for a job. As they were unable to clear the interviews they attended, they hatched a plan to pose as I-T officials and extort Ganesh. They assumed he may have amassed a fortune by conducting puja services for VVIPs. The duo ganged up with Kumar and made a ransom call to the priest on last Wednesday. Veena, who answered the call, was shocked on being told that case file has been opened against her husband for having disproportionate assets and there is will be an I-T raid soon. 

The accused also suggested that if she was willing to pay Rs 10 crore, the impending raid, to be conducted in next two days by a special team from Delhi, can be averted. Veena informed her husband about the call and lodged a police complaint.

Later, on the instructions from the police, Veena expressed willingness to pay the ransom amount. The accused told her that they would be coming in a Zoom Car (self-rental car) near her house to collect the money.

When they reached the decided place in Mathikere on Friday night, a special police team nabbed the trio. The police recovered two mobile phones and the car in which they were travelling. During interrogation, it was revealed that the accused were first time offenders. They were booked under various sections of the IPC and remanded in judicial custody.