VIJAYAWADA: Machavaram police arrested a notorious offender, Jayaprakash of Anantapur district, for impersonating an Anti-Corruption Bureau officer and extorting lakhs of rupees from Vijayawada Municipal Corporation officials.
Police said the accused posed as a fake ACB officer, threatening employees with corruption cases to collect money. Inspired by a film’s modus operandi, he had earlier aspired to join police force but failed in SI recruitment exams.
A commerce graduate from Kottalapalli village in Vidapanakal mandal, Jayaprakash developed criminal tendencies early. He was first involved in chain-snatching in 2017 before expanding into cheating, intimidation and extortion. Authorities said more than 50 cases are registered against him in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, including 17 in Anantapur alone.
In the recent case, he extorted Rs 2 lakh from a VMC executive engineer and Rs 2.5 lakh from a horticulture official via UPI. Police traced his accounts to Anantapur, arrested his associate Anil, and later apprehended Jayaprakash using mobile location data. He will be produced in court.