Pseudo-police gang that kidnapped businessman and extorted ₹5.26 lakh busted in Cyberabad

Cyberabad police have arrested five members of a fake police gang who allegedly kidnapped a businessman, impersonated a police officer, falsely imprisoned him and extorted more than ₹ 5 lakh after convincing him that he was wanted in a criminal case in Haryana.

The accused have been identified as Nagaraju Raghu Varma, who allegedly used various aliases such as Karthikeya, Vamshi, Alluri Vijayaram and Andhra Pradesh native Karthikeya Singh; Yeswanth Singh alias Rahul and Sathyabhan Singh alias Thakur, both from Uttar Pradesh; and Thangellapalli Nagendra Varma from Hyderabad.

The other two accused, identified as Pradeep Kumar Mishra from Bihar and Sunil Kumar alias Fouzi from Haryana, are still at large.

The accused were nabbed by Jagadgirigutta police with the help of Kukatpally Central Crime Station (CCS) following investigation into the incident reported by a 42-year-old businessman from Jayanagar in Kukatpally.

According to police, the incident was reported on May 18 near Shobodhaya Colony in Jagadgirigutta, when the victim was heading towards Prashanth Nagar on his motorcycle. A car blocked his way and three men who identified themselves as police officers got out. They told him that a criminal case had been registered against him in Haryana and that he had to accompany them for questioning.

Believing that these were real police officers, the businessman got into the vehicle. The gang then imprisoned him, seized his mobile phone, ATM card and cash, and forced him to reveal his bank credentials and passwords, police said.

To make the hoax appear real, the accused staged a fake video call in which another person pretended to be a police officer from Haryana. The victim was then taken to Suryapet where the gang withdrew ₹1 lakh from his bank account through ATM transactions. While another ₹1 lakh was transferred through PhonePe, additional funds were withdrawn through online banking applications.

The gang extorted a total of ₹ 5.26 lakh from the businessman. After taking the money, they attacked him, removed his SIM card, gave him a simple mobile phone and left him in a secluded place before escaping.

During interrogation, investigators revealed that several members of the gang met while serving prison sentences and continued to operate as an organized crime network after their release.

Police said the gang primarily targets businessmen and other financially well-off people. They used fake police uniforms, fake ID cards, rank badges and insignia to pose as law enforcement personnel. Victims were then intimidated with fabricated criminal allegations and forced to transfer money through ATM withdrawals, online banking and digital payment platforms.

Investigators also found that the group used support networks for surveillance, identifying potential targets, and coordinating operations across multiple States.

Police records revealed that Nagaraju Raghu Varma was a criminal involved in at least 12 similar cases in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand. He had previously been detained twice under the Preventive Detention Act and was being a rowdy at Poduru police station. Other defendants are also linked to theft, property crimes, pandering and cyber-related crimes in different states, according to investigators.

During the operation, police seized mobile phones, laptops, air pistol, country-made 7.65 mm pistol, police uniforms, fake ID cards, rank badges, handcuffs, batons, fake police stamps, name plates, fake government documents, court seals, fake vehicle number plates, SIM cards and vehicles, including Tata Tiago car and Royal Enfield Himalaya motorcycles.

The suspects who were referred to the courthouse were arrested and sent to prison. Police said efforts are ongoing to track the fleeing suspects and identify other victims who may have been targeted by the gang.

It was published – 04 June 2026 01:03 IST