Hyderabad: A 39-year-old man was arrested in Hyderabad on Tuesday, November 25, for cheating to the tune of Rs 10.5 lakh under the pretext of buying an industrial land.
Bathini Shashikanth approached the complainant, Ali Hassan, as a government officer, and alleged that he could help him secure an industrial land.
Believing him, Hassan paid Rs 10,50,665 to Shashikanth. Hassan realised he was duped after the latter went unreachable.
Police said that Shashikanth would often impersonate as an IAS or IPS officer and extort money from victims. He created fake ID cards, put sirens on private vehicles, used walkie-talkies for communication and circulated a fake Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) industrial land allotment letter to cheat victims.
He even hired two bodyguards, Praveen and Vimal, from Tamil Nadu to gain trust.
Based on Hassan’s complaint, the Film Nagar police registered a case against Shashikanth under sections 319(2), 318(4), 336(3), 340(2), 308 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanahita (BNS).
While Shahshikanth has been nabbed, Praveen and Vimal remain absconding.
Police seized two mobile phones, six sim cards, two walkie-talkies and fake ID cards from the accused.
Ali Hassan is the managing director of Gym Gold.
