In a significant breakthrough, the Ijoor police in Bengaluru South district recently apprehended a 55-year-old former police constable, once associated with the Lokayukta, on serious charges of impersonation and extortion. He is accused of systematically threatening government officials and illegally demanding money from them by pretending to be a high-ranking Lokayukta investigator.
The arrest came after a courageous complaint from a Child Development Planning Officer in Magadi. Following this, a dedicated police team successfully located and detained the suspect, identified as Murugeppa, formally charging him with multiple counts of extortion and impersonation.
Police investigations revealed that Murugeppa was indeed a former police constable with the Lokayukta, but he had been dismissed from service due to a history of corrupt activities.
Leveraging his insider knowledge and past experience, Murugeppa reportedly orchestrated a sophisticated extortion scheme. He acquired lists of government officials, contacted them while falsely representing himself as a Deputy Superintendent of Police, and then coerced them into paying money under the guise of impending Lokayukta raids.
Further inquiry brought to light the astonishing scale of his criminal enterprise: Murugeppa is facing an astounding 46 pending extortion cases throughout the state. As part of the ongoing investigation, authorities confiscated three mobile phones and nine SIM cards, which he had allegedly procured using fraudulent documents to facilitate his illicit activities.