HYDERABAD: The Special Operations Team (SOT) of Shamshabad Zone on Wednesday arrested Nagaraju Karthik Raghu Varma alias Karthik of Andhra Pradesh, who after failing to join the Indian Army and the police force, became a self-styled Army Colonel and later an IPS officer.
Under the cover of an Army officer, Karthik was involved in several offences in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana state. Dressed as an Army officer he even attended functions in private institutions as a guest and inaugurated a private hospital in the city. But after the lid was blown off and his arrest in both states, he disposed off the Army officer’s role and posed as an IPS officer.
In the past, he was involved in seven cases of theft, cheating and extortion. His latest arrest led to the detection of two cases including one reported in Jharkhand.
Madhapur incharge DCP T. Srinivas Rao said that Karthik also claimed to be an encounter specialist and showed fake encounter pictures, indulged in kidnap, extortion and other offences. “A country-made pistol, nine rounds of live ammunition which he purchased from Jharkhand, and police badges, logos, emblems, fake identity cards of Telangana state and Delhi police, handcuff, lathis, rubber strips used during interrogation, fabricated case files and several other incriminating material have been seized from him,” he said.
Claiming to be an officer deputed to the Special Task Force in the police department, he would reach out to people who are caught in financial disputes, land disputes and offered to help them. Saying that he would settle the matter, he would demand commission from the party. He would kidnap up the opposite party and settled issues. He would also show them violent videos clips saying they were from previous cases interrogation and threatened to do the same with the opposite party if they did not settle the matter.
One of the encounter videos he has was shot in Andhra Pradesh, wherein he fabricated an encounter by placing chicken and animal blood on the body of a person, to show it as a real encounter.
Based on a complaint reported at Madhapur PS, in which he offered to help a businessman in a financial dispute and demanded Rs 5 lakh as commission, police nabbed him.
During interrogation, he admitted he cheated a woman from the city under the guise of arranging a Jaguar vehicle for Rs 14 lakh. He took her to Jharkhand to buy the car, where he abandoned her and fled with Rs 9 lakh cash belonging to the victim. On her complaint, Jharkhand police started a probe.
