PATNA: A conman was arrested in Patna on Friday after he called the Bhojpur district magistrate (DM) by posing as the Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The fraudster, Abhishek Agarwal, had hit headlines in 2022 for trying to influence the then Bihar DGP SK Singhal by impersonating the Patna High Court Chief Justice. He had been sent to jail in connection with the case and was out on bail last year.
After Abhishek Agarwal called DM Tanai Sultania on April 27, the officer got suspicious and alerted the confidential branch of his office. An FIR was registered on April 28 in Ara, the Bhojpur district headquarters. A special team was constituted to investigate the incident.
When the police conducted a technical investigation, the caller’s mobile tower location was traced to Nageshwar Colony in Patna. The Bhojpur police, with the cooperation of the STF, conducted a raid and nabbed Agarwal.
According to police, Agarwal used to call senior bureaucrats while posing as a senior officer of either Central and state probe agency. “We are trying to gather information about his involvement in duping state government officers in recent past,” a police officer told this reporter.
In 2022, Agarwal, a tiles dealer, had called then DGP S K Singhal impersonating then HC Chief Justice Sanjay Karol. He had attempted to exert pressure to dilute a case involving former Gaya SSP Aditya Kumar. Acting on Singhal’s orders, Economic Offences Unit (EOU) registered an FIR against the SSP in Patna.
Aditya Kumar was suspended after the matter came to light that Agarwal was exerting pressure on then DGP in favour of the SSP. The investigation has revealed that Agarwal had connections with IAS and IPS officers in Bihar. Photographs of him with these officers also surfaced.
Past attempts to deceive
In 2022, Agarwal, a tiles dealer, had called then DGP S K Singhal impersonating then HC Chief Justice Sanjay Karol. He had attempted to exert pressure to dilute a case involving former Gaya SSP Aditya Kumar.