BHUBANESWAR: A 45-year-old man impersonating as an officer of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was nabbed by Bhubaneswar police here on Thursday.
Ashish Reddy, the accused, was found driving a vehicle bearing Tamil Nadu registration number with a beacon on top. The vehicle even carried a plate embossed with ‘Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA). He used to wear a t-shirt with a fake NIA logo. Reddy’s bluff was called when he walked into Kharavela Nagar police station two days back and pressured cops to lodge an FIR about a woman friend being sexually assaulted in a car.
The woman, a native of Kolkata, had met Reddy in West Bengal in 2024 when he had introduced himself as an NIA officer, police said. She reportedly arrived in the city last month and was supposed to travel in the state with a friend. In the complaint, the woman alleged that while the two friends were traveling in a car, two persons forcibly entered into their vehicle and sexually assaulted her. She alleged that they later threw her out of the car on Konark-Puri road. She told the police that her friend was possibly involved in the incident.
After the police registered a case, Reddy used his fake identity to pressure them to initiate action against the woman’s friend. He reportedly told Kharavela Nagar police that he was a senior NIA officer and if they did act on the woman’s complaint, it can cost them their job. “At some point, we were taken aback assuming him to be an NIA officer but his action was a little over the top,” said an officer. Suspicious, police contacted NIA officials and found out that Reddy was a conman. The police recovered a fake MHA identity card from him.
The woman later brought up allegation against Reddy stating he had established physical relationship with her without her consent. Basing on her claims, a rape case has been slapped against the conman. She also revealed before police that she had a fight with her friend over a trivial issue and admitted that the complaint lodged was fabricated she did this on Reddy’s insistence.
“Reddy said he is a resident of New Delhi but investigation suggests he is a native of Berhampur. A detailed probe is underway,” police said.