'IAS officer' who cheated builder of Rs 93L held

The Seshadripuram police have arrested a 36-year-old man who allegedly cheated a builder of Rs 93 lakh by posing as an IAS officer and promising him high-end construction projects.

The suspect is Altaf Hussain Jahangir, said to be a resident of RMV Extension and an intellectual property consultant. Police said Jahangir had recently contacted Ramakrishna Reddy, owner of a construction company, by posing as an IAS officer.

He boasted to Reddy that he had top contacts that would help him get big construction projects in the City.

Jahangir contacted Reddy a couple of times and the builder fell for his tricks, police said. He then asked the builder to first deposit certain sum of money to start the process of planning the project. Reddy obliged and deposited a few lakhs of rupees into the suspect’s bank account. A weeks later, Jahangir again asked Reddy to deposit more money, saying he had to bribe some officials to get the project sanctioned.

A senior police officer said, “Reddy deposited the money again. But thereafter, Jahangir started avoiding him and gave one excuse or the other whenever Reddy tried contacting him. Reddy smelled something fishy and approached the police and made a complaint. He had deposited about Rs 93 lakh cash into Jahangir’s bank account. We arrested him after analysing the call detail record of his mobile phone and scrutinising his bank accounts.”

According to the officer, the cash is yet to be recovered. Investigation is now focusing on the suspect’s background and modus operandi. “We do not know if he has cheated many more people. We expect more people to approach us in the coming days and make a complaint against him,” the officer added.

A case has been registered at the Seshadripuram police station.