NELLORE: Posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths, cyber criminals have demanded Rs 15 crore from BJP leader and former MLC Vakati Narayana Reddy. The criminals, posing themselves as sleuths from Mumbai Cyber Crime Police, falsely accused Vakati of indulging in illegal financial activities, and held him in self-imposed ‘surveillance custody’ for over four days, police said.
On September 27, Vakati received a phone call from someone claiming to be a FedEx representative when he was in Vijayawada. The caller stated that a parcel in Vakati’s name containing illegal items such as drugs and foreign currency, was sent from Mumbai to Thailand. Despite Vakati’s denial, the call was transferred to a person impersonating a Mumbai Cyber Crime officer.
Through a series of video calls, the criminals coerced Vakati to furnish his Aadhaar card details, and charged him with money-laundering, claiming large sums were transferred to a Mumbai bank account in his name. They further intimidated Vakati by referring his past CBI cases, demanded Rs 15 crore to clear his name, and threatened to ruin his political career with the scandal.
Fearing adverse consequences, Vakati remained under their control until he eventually suspected foul play. He approached Vedayapalem police station in Nellore on Monday. The Nellore Crime Branch has taken up the case investigation, and is analysing the call data to track down the perpetrators of the cyber crime. It is suspected that the cyber criminals might have targeted Vakati, knowing about his involvement in bank frauds probed by the CBI earlier.