Rewari DC gets extortion call to settle corruption complaint in PMO

THE ACCUSED, IDENTIFIED AS UPENDRA KUMAR OF FAIZABAD IN UP, HAD COME TO COLLECT THE MONEY WHEN THE POLICE HELD HIM ON SUNDAY NIGHT

GURGAON: Rewari police arrested a man on charges of attempting to extort money from the deputy commissioner of Rewari in lieu of “settling a corruption complaint” against him in the Prime Minister’s Office.

The accused, identified as Upendra Kumar of Faizabad in UP, had come to collect the money when the police held him on Sunday night.

On March 4, Rewari DC Yash Garg, a 2009-batch IAS officer, got too missed calls on his phone from an unknown number. This was soon followed by a message from the same number that there was a 225-page complaint of disproportionate assets filed against him at the PMO. The message also stated that it has been referred to the department of personnel and training (DoPT) for inquiry.

When Garg called on that number, the receiver identified himself as SP Garg, an official of the DoPT. The police have now identified the caller as Kamlesh Kumar, a man who runs an extortion racket.

Kamlesh, who posed as SP Garg, allegedly told the DC that the matter was being dealt by him and two other officers. He demanded Rs 1.5 lakh for settling the complaint.

The DC reported the matter to the police who laid a trap and asked the accused to come and collect the money. “Kamlesh knew that he was dealing with the a deputy commissioner. He sent Upendra to collect money and we nabbed him. A search is on for Kamlesh and the other accused,” said Brahmdeep, assistant sub-inspector, Rewari crime branch, the investigation officer in the case.

ASI Brahmdeep said that Kamlesh runs an extortion racket and operates out of Noida and nearby areas. “The gang has no specific address and keep shifting its location. We are trying to locate the others,” he said.

Upendra was produced in a court on Monday and remanded in police custody for four days. Sub-inspector Devender Singh, the in-charge of Model Town police station in Rewari, said Upendra has claimed that he was asked by someone else to collect the money and that he did not know anything about the matter.

“The investigating team is questioning him. His statements are suspicious but he has some more accomplices. The police are trying to trace them also,” Singh said.

Garg refused comment on the matter. Official sources, however, said there is no complaint against him in any office.