Dehradun, July 19 (SocialNews.XYZ) The CBI on Sunday arrested a man for impersonating an official of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, and demanding bribes from loan applicants, an official said.
Prabhu Dayal was impersonating an official named Rishi Gupta and trying to collect a bribe of Rs 45,000 from a poultry farm owner in Uttarakhand, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement.
After the arrest from his native village in Agra, Prabhu Dayal was produced before the Competent Court at Dehradun for custody, the CBI said.
The case was registered by CBI, ACB, Dehradun on June 29. It was alleged that the accused claimed to be an official of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and demanded a bribe of Rs 45,000 or 2 per cent of the loan amount of Rs 22.50 lakh from the complainant for approval of the loan.
The complainant, who runs a poultry farm in Village Lalpur, Tehsil Kashipur, Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, had applied for a loan from Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) through Udyami Mitra (SIDBI) portal.
The CBI laid a trap on June 29, and the accused accepted a bribe of Rs 5,000 as the first instalment from the complainant by sending a QR Code to the complainant's mobile phone, said an official.
Based on the QR Code and bank account details, the CBI arrested a private person from his residence on June 30. However, it was revealed during interrogation that he was not the main accused. The main accused, who was impersonating an official of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, was absconding.
During the investigation, it was found that the accused private person had access to information on AHIDF loan applicants/applications, and he used to make calls to a large number of applicants daily to demand bribes, the CBI said.
Dayal used to seek bribes from loan applicants to avoid rejection of loan applications, re-submission of proper loan applications, or approval of loan applications, the CBI said.
By impersonating an AHIDF official and discussing loan application information, he used to collect bribes from loan applicants daily, the CBI said.
The accused was taking money through UPI payments in other applicants’ bank accounts through QR code and thereafter transferring it to another person’s bank accounts through UPI transactions, said the official statement.
The CBI team continued its efforts by visiting Delhi, Agra and adjoining areas to trace the absconder. Intensive efforts were undertaken by analysing the CDRs of various mobile numbers connected to the accused, the bank accounts of suspected persons, and IP Addresses connected with loan applications of various applicants, as well as by examining various officials of SIDBI and AHIDF and loan applicants of AHIDF, it said.
Through sources and digital surveillance, it was found that the accused was demanding money using different mobile numbers and frequently changing his location, such as Agra, Jaipur, and Delhi.
On Sunday, Dayal was found to be present at his house at Village Chhota Pootha Bisarana, Police Station-Dauki, Tehsil-Fatehabad, District Agra, Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested there, the CBI said.
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz