The Special Task Force (STF) of the Odisha Crime Branch arrested a man for allegedly extorting more than Rs 2 crore from people by posing as an RTI activist, the agency said in a release on Friday.
The accused was identified as Kishore Kumar Mishra, who hails from Brahmapur and was living in Koraput for several years. A fake ID card of the I & PR Department of the Odisha Government and other incriminating documents have been recovered from his possession.
A case in this regard was initially registered at the Koraput Town police station under Sections 419/420/465/468/470/471/34 of IPC in April. Later, the investigation was taken over by the STF.
Mishra used to cheat/ extort people by identifying himself as an RTI activist and mentioning that he has close proximity with senior officers and can get them crusher licence, liquor licence, transfer/ posting, etc. He committed such offences for around two to three years, the STF said.
Mishra’s bank accounts show credit of more than Rs 2 crore in the last two to three years. An initial investigation suggested that he is a member of a larger group indulging in cheating/ impersonation. It was also noticed that this group used some mule bank accounts including some accounts of dead persons, the STF added.