Five held for posing as Task Force police officers, extorting businessman in Amberpet

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Five persons were arrested by the Amberpet police for allegedly posing as Task Force police officers, kidnapping a businessman, assaulting him and extorting money from him at multiple locations in the city. The arrested persons were identified as Manchala Santosh Kumar, 36, Suraya Vamshi Santosh Kumar alias Santhu, 33, Chakali Srikanth alias Chinna Bomma, 24, Etikala Raghuveer, 30, and Bajandri Deva, 34. Another accused, identified as Deepak, is absconding. Police seized ₹26,500 in cash, five mobile phones and a motorcycle bearing registration number TG 08 AE 4881, collectively valued at about ₹1.75 lakh. According to the police, the case came to light following a complaint lodged by K. Hari Babu, a resident of Kukatpally engaged in real estate business. The complainant stated that he regularly advertised his real estate and gold business through WhatsApp and Instagram. On June 10, he received a message from an unidentified person expressing interest in purchasing gold. Following their conversation, he was asked to meet at Golnaka in Amberpet. When he reached the location on June 11, two men approached him, introduced themselves as Task Force police officers and accused him of involvement in a gold scam. The duo allegedly took him to an opposite lane near the Musi River, assaulted him and forced him to transfer ₹21,000 from his bank account via UPI belonging to Raghuveer. Police said three more men later joined them and also claimed to be Task Force personnel. The complainant was allegedly forced to call the individual who had initially contacted him. After arriving at the spot, the man claimed to be a police officer. The group allegedly assaulted the complainant, threatened to kill him and took away his credit card. They then transported him on a motorcycle to a petrol station, where transactions worth ₹20,640 were made using the card and cash was also taken from him. The accused subsequently took him to a liquor outlet and allegedly used the credit card again to make a p