Bhubaneswar: The Special Task Force (STF) of the Odisha Crime Branch arrested a man for allegedly extorting more than Rs 2 crore from people by posing as an RTI activist, the agency said in a release today.

The accused has been identified as Kishore Kumar Mishra, who hails from Berhampur and was living in Koraput for several years. A fake ID card of the I & PR Department of the Odisha Government and other incriminating documents have been recovered from his possession.

A case in this regard was initially registered at the Koraput Town Police Station under Sections 419/420/465/468/470/471/34 of the IPC in April. Later, the investigation was taken over by STF.

Kishore used to cheat/ extort people by identifying himself as an RTI activist and mentioning that he has close proximity with senior officers and can get them crusher license, liquor license, transfer/ posting etc. He committed such offences for around 2-3 years, the STF said.

Bank accounts of Kishore show credit of more than Rs 2 crore in the last 2-3 years. Initial investigation suggests that Kishore is a member of a larger group indulging in cheating/ impersonation. It was also noticed that this group used some mule bank accounts including some accounts of dead persons, the STF added.