Highly qualified man impersonating as Vigilance officer arrested for extortion in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Impersonating as a Vigilance officer, a man having high educational degrees, was arrested for extortion. Odisha SFT apprehended the accused during a raid at his residence in Puri yesterday.

The accused has been identified as Manoj Kumar Majhi, a resident of Phulbari village under Krushna Prasad police limits in Puri district.

He was nabbed following a complaint by an Additional Chief Engineer and other complainants alleging extortion of Rs 1 crore.

Based on the complaints, a team of STF raided the accused’s village on May 6 and arrested him.

During interrogation, the accused confessed to his crime before police.

He was trying to extort money from various government officials as well as some contractors impersonating himself as a senior Vigilance officer. It is also ascertained that the accused has cheated some persons promising to arrange government jobs, the STF stated in a release today.

The investigation revealed that the accused was a highly qualified person having M.Sc in Chemistry and Ph.D degree from the Sambalpur University. He allegedly cheated at least 14 officials in different ranks including special secretary and many contractors.

The arrested accused will be forwarded to the Court of SDJM, Bhubaneswar, today.