The Delhi Police on Wednesday said they have arrested a 29-year-old man, who allegedly posed as a senior bureaucrat and duped many people of several crores of rupees by promising to help them get licences for petrol pumps, gas agencies and house allotments under the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO).

The accused, identified as Sampath Kumar Surappagari from Hyderabad in Telangana, publishes a daily newspaper from Delhi. He would move around with his bodyguards to impress people, whom he tricked into giving money for obtaining petrol pump and gas agency licences,” deputy commissioner of police (crime) G Ram Gopal Naik said.

DCP Naik said that Surappagari was arrested on Tuesday from a hotel in Delhi’s Mahipalpur area following investigation into a case of cheating, forgery and criminal intimidation, filed in February on the bases of a complaint lodged by Malipaddy Sandeep, a Hyderabad resident.

According to Naik, Sandeep, in his complaint, stated that in May 2017, one K Ramaswamy told him that his nephew was a senior IAS officer in Delhi and could help him get petrol pump and gas agency permits if he paid Rs 1.80 crore. In June 2017, Ramaswamy arranged a meeting between Sandeep and his nephew, Surappagari, at a Delhi hotel.

“Surappagari projected himself as an influential bureaucrat, Sandeep fell for the act and paid Rs 1.80 crore for the licences. Sandeep’s father-in-law also paid Rs 20 lakh for procuring the licence. However, the two never got any licences and Surappagari stopped answering their calls or meeting them,” the DCP said.

Naik said that Surappagari issued cheques when Sandeep and his father-in-law insisted he return their money. But, the cheques bounced and when the duo told Surappagari about it, he threatened to get them killed, Naik said.

As the crime branch began their probe in Sandeep’s case, investigators learnt that Surappagari was arrested in three criminal cases in Hyderabad. Despite being released on bail in these cases, Surappagari never turned up to join the crime branch case, the police said.

“On Tuesday, we learnt that he was at a hotel in Mahipalpur. Our team raided the hotel and caught Surappagari,” DCP Naik said.

According to the police, Surappagari’s father was a government teacher in Hyderabad. After completing his BSc in electronics, he moved to Delhi in 2013 to prepare for civil services entrance exams. When he could not clear the exams, Surappagari started publishing a daily newspaper from Delhi’s Karol Bagh.

“To live a lavish life, Surappagari used to introduce himself as a senior bureaucrat, prepared fake IDs and cheated people,” Naik added.

First Published: Jul 04, 2019 09:04 IST