Representative image showing a police officer.
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Hathras: Residents of a village here thwarted a fake raid, overpowering four men allegedly posing as officials from the electricity department's vigilance team, police said on Friday.
The group was extorting money from locals under the guise of inspecting power theft, police said.
The incident took place in Farouli village on July 30. According to police, the accused arrived in a Bolero SUV bearing government plates and claimed to be part of an official electricity vigilance drive. When villagers asked to see identification, the men attempted to flee, raising further suspicion.
Alert locals chased them down, detained them, and alerted authorities.
Police said they have arrested all four individuals, who were later identified as residents of the Sasni area in Hathras district. Among them was the driver of the vehicle, Praveen Sharma, who had leased the SUV to the state power department.
During interrogation, Sharma claimed, "The raid was conducted on the instructions of a Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) from the power department and that they were targeting homes with illegal electricity connections." However, the SDO in question, Om Prakash, denied any involvement and said no official inspection had been ordered.
"The vehicle was privately hired, and I had no knowledge of any such activity," the SDO told reporters.
The local power department has launched an internal inquiry. Executive Engineer Abhinav Tiwari said that a committee has been formed to investigate whether any department staff were complicit.
"Anyone found guilty will face strict departmental and legal action," he said.
The villagers, meanwhile, said the men had demanded bribes and threatened penalties.
"They told us they were from vigilance, but when we asked for ID cards, they tried to run. That's when we knew something was wrong," said one resident.
Police say further arrests could follow based on the findings of the investigation.