Mangaluru: Man arrested for posing as Lokayukta official
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): A man was arrested for posing as a Lokayukta officer and attempting to extort money via WhatsApp, Ullal police said.
According to a press release from the Commissioner of Police, Mangaluru, Dhananjaya Reddy Thota (31) allegedly called Purushottam, a panchayat officer, posing as a Lokayukta official. He demanded money to "resolve" an alleged corruption case. Suspicious of the caller’s identity, Purushottam alerted authorities, prompting an investigation.
Tracing the call led police to Andhra Pradesh, where Thota was apprehended on Saturday. Preliminary investigations revealed that he had no connection to the Lokayukta and was using the scheme to exploit officials by leveraging fear of legal action.
Ullal police are now probing whether Thota was involved in similar scams elsewhere. The case highlights the need for vigilance against such fraudulent activities targeting government employees.
Thota has been remanded to police custody and further investigations are underway.
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21 hours raid fetch nothing for ED, claims Karnataka Cong MLA’s son
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Congress MLA N A Haris' son Mohammed Haris Nalapad on Tuesday claimed that the 21 hours of search by the ED in his house and other locations did not fetch anything.
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday raided the premises of the two sons of Haris (Mohammed Haris Nalapad and Omar Farook Nalapad), Aqeeb Khan, grandson of ex-Union cabinet minister K Rahman Khan and an alleged crypto hacker named Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki in a crypto currency-linked money laundering case.
More than a dozen premises in the city have been covered as part of the action executed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
"My grandfather is 89-year-old. There is not a single bad mark. My father (N A Haris) is a four-time MLA. There is not a single accusation against him. Their only intention was to target myself and my brother. As simple as that," Mohammed Nalapad, who is a former Karnataka Youth Congress president, told reporters.
According to him, the ED officials carried out raids for 21 hours.
"After 21 hours of search, they took away only two mobile phones from our house. They did not get a single paisa. The ED will testify it," the Congress leader said.
Exuding faith in the law, he said he is ready to fight the case in court.
"Me and my father have opted for politics and we are in public life. You can call me whatever you want but I have not done anything wrong," Mohammed Nalapad said.
Regarding his relationship with Sriki, he said he knew him but had no clue what he was doing.
"I have never said that either me or my brother do not know Sriki. But how will I know what he does in his house? Can his crimes be linked to us," he asked.
The money laundering case stems from some Karnataka Police FIRs and chargesheets filed in a 2017 case of hacking of national and international websites, stealing of bitcoins and sale of these 'stolen' virtual digital assets (VDA) through crypto platforms by the alleged hacker Sriki and his associates.
The Nalapad brothers and Aqeeb Khan are alleged to be the beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime generated through this alleged crypto-linked crime, the ED said.
