Nellore: Cyber criminals, posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers, demanded Rs 15 crore from BJP leader and former MLC Vakati Narayana Reddy. Pretending to be officials from Mumbai Cyber Crime Police, the criminals falsely accused Vakati of illegal financial activities and kept him under 'self-imposed surveillance custody' for over four days, according to police reports.
The incident began on September 27, when Vakati, while in Vijayawada, received a call from someone claiming to be a FedEx representative. The caller alleged that a parcel in Vakati's name, containing illegal items such as drugs and foreign currency, was sent from Mumbai to Thailand. Despite Vakati's denial, the call was transferred to a person impersonating a Mumbai Cyber Crime officer.
Through a series of video calls, the scammers coerced Vakati into sharing his Aadhaar card details and accused him of money laundering, claiming that large sums had been transferred to a Mumbai bank account under his name. They further intimidated him by bringing up his past CBI cases and demanded Rs 15 crore to clear his name, threatening to ruin his political career with a scandal.
Fearing the consequences, Vakati complied with their demands for several days before suspecting foul play. He reported the incident to Vedayapalem police station in Nellore on Monday. The Nellore Crime Branch is investigating the case and analyzing call data to track down the cyber criminals, who are suspected of targeting Vakati due to his previous involvement in CBI-probed bank frauds.