HANAMKONDA : A fake National Investigation Agency (NIA) officer was arrested by Kakatiya University Campus (KUC) police on Monday. The arrested youth, identified as 20-year-old Narla Naresh, a resident of Pothireddypally village in Pedda Adisarlapally mandal of Nalgonda district, was extorting money from some local people posing as an NIA officer in the Warangal Police Commissionerate limits. The police seized an army uniform, stars, visiting cards, fake ID card, laptop, air pistol, mobile phone and two two-wheeler vehicles from the arrested man.
During a vehicle checking in front of the Kakatiya University (KU) last gate, the police apprehended Naresh while he was going on a bike carrying a bag. When they checked the bag, they found an army uniform, shoes, cap, fake ID card, air pistol, etc. During interrogation and later at a press conference held by police, he revealed that he confessed that he procured a pistol, Indian Army uniform, a fake ID card and other paraphernalia to win over the confidence of jobless youth in his village. He admitted collecting ` 5 lakh each from five youths of his village promising them jobs in the Merchant Navy. He had taken them to Sangli district in Maharastra and got them admitted in Vyshnavi Career Foundation.
When the youths realised that they were taken for a ride by Naresh, they mounted pressure on him and parents to refund their money. Naresh’s parents sold their agricultural land and returned the money to four of the five victims. But Naresh did not stop his nefarious activities.
After reading about NIA raids on PFI offices in the country he came up with the idea to don the role of an official of the premier investigation agency and extort money. He drafted the services of two students, Nelapatla Rajesh and Dava Vinay Babu, who were not aware of Naresh’s dubious plans. Later, he zeroed in on some persons of social standing in Hanamkonda and Jagityal, to extort money. He raided them along with his two ‘aides’ and threatened at the gun point that he would arrest them for ‘links’ with PFI if they did not pay him money. KUC police recorded his confession statement.
Disclosing the details to mediapersons, Warangal Commissioner of Police Dr Tarun Joshi said that in October some persons posing as NIA officials, threatened to arrest certain persons for ‘links’ with PFI if they did not pay them money.
Based on the complaint from the victims, two cases were registered by KUC police and, during the course of investigated, they came to know that two more similar cases were registered in Jagityal. In the wake of a series of these incidents, KUC police took it as a challenge to curb such activities.