Suspended govt official held for cheating money out of politicians

Hyderabad: A 53-year-old man was arrested for allegedly impersonating senior government officials and cheating public representatives by asking for money in the name of various government welfare and employment schemes, Film Nagar Police said on Friday, November 6.

The arrested person was identified as Thota Balaji Nayudu, a native of Kakinada district in Andhra Pradesh. He was working as an Assistant Engineer (AE) at NTPC Ramagundam and was under suspension.

According to police, the accused collected mobile phone numbers of legislators and other public representatives from various websites. He subsequently contacted them, posing as a senior official in the Finance Department at the Secretariat or an Additional Secretary-level government employee.

He allegedly spoke about schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rojgar Yojana, Chief Minister’s unemployment schemes and other government programmes, and persuaded public representatives to contribute money towards their implementation.

The police said the accused had earlier worked at NTPC Ramagundam, where he joined as a Junior Engineer and was subsequently promoted as Assistant Executive Engineer and Assistant Engineer. In 2008, he was trapped by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

He allegedly continued his fraudulent activities thereafter. In 2016, Banjara Hills police had initiated proceedings under the Preventive Detention Act against him.

The accused has a criminal history of 43 cases registered against him in various police stations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh since 2010, police said.

He was arrested in connection with two recent cases registered at Film Nagar police station and Mancherial Town police station. The cases involve allegations of cheating through impersonation and cyber fraud.

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