HYDERABAD: The two men arrested for allegedly posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials and trying to extort money from former MP Rayapati Samabsiva Rao were going to use the money to party on New Year’s eve, sources said.
The CBI arrested Manivardhan Reddy Yala and Selvam Ramaraj of Madurai on Saturday. The accused had information about a bank fraud case that the former MP was involved in. Sources said that the accused got Sambasiva Rao’s contact details through online.
"The accused had called Sambasiva Rao many times from their mobiles. However, after he sensed the way the accused talked about the fraud case, Sambasiva Rao started suspecting something was wrong," sources said.
Sambasiva Rao then contacted the CBI’s Delhi headquarters and inquired about the accused. The CBI then started tracking the accused’s movements and conversations. Manivardhan Reddy, posing as a senior CBI official, had called the former MP on January 3 and demanded a bribe.
"He even met Sambasiva Rao in Guntur on January 4 and demanded a huge amount of money as bribe and threatened that if he didn’t pay, the CBI will act tough on him. The accused gave him two days time," sources said. Manivardhan Reddy also claimed that many people have obliged to them. Based on the information about the other victims of the accused, the CBI officials arrested the accused.