Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance sleuths, in a joint operation with Rourkela Police, arrested two fraudsters, who had been posing as Vigilance officers and extorting money from government officials by threatening to implicate them in disproportionate assets (DA) and bribery cases.
The accused have been identified as Ganesh Prasad Nanda, a resident of Mendhamal village in Sonepur district, and his relative Pradeep Kumar Panda.
According to an official release, the duo allegedly extorted Rs 4 lakh in two instalments from a senior Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer by “threatening to entangle him in Vigilance cases”.
It further stated that Nanda used multiple mobile numbers that displayed “Vigilance Officer” on Truecaller to create fear among victims. The pair allegedly accused government officials of corruption and misuse of public funds and demanded money in exchange for not conducting raids or DA searches.
After receiving credible intelligence about such extortion rackets being run in the name of the Vigilance Department, a special team was formed. The team maintained close surveillance on the accused for several days and apprehended the duo from Mendhamal village in Birmaharajpur area on December 11. “They have been arrested on multiple charges including cheating by impersonating as Vigilance Officers and for extortion by giving threats under Sections 308 (2)/318 (4)/319 (2) BNS and 66 (c)(d) IT Act,2005.,” it said, adding that they are being forwarded to court.
