Representative image of police.
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Police busted a two-man gang in Bengaluru involved in extorting money from government employees by posing as Lokayukta officials. Santosh Koppad, a Belagavi resident, was arrested on Monday. The main suspect, Vishal Patil, is on the run.
Claiming to be from the Lokayukta police, Patil targeted government engineers, alleging that they are in possession of disproportionate assets.
He demanded money to avoid filing an FIR. Investigations revealed that Patil had a charge sheet filed against him in 2020 for impersonating an official from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Patil and Koppad arrived in Bengaluru in 2022 and began threatening government engineers. In December 2022, a government official contacted the Lokayukta Bengaluru City Inspector. A complaint was filed at Vidhana Soudha police station. A police officer highlighted the crucial role played by technical evidence in apprehending the accused, stating, “We were searching for them for over six months.”