How key players ran con machine with VIP perks
LUCKNOW:The con was on for a long time and in style at that. The recipe for the animal husbandry fake contract racket had a mix of ingredients that would lure many an unsuspecting person into a web of deceit. An official-looking white Ambassador car, khakiclad guards, a tent for securitymen and investment in film production completed the picture of subterfuge.
The dramatis personae were sharp and shrewd illusionists who were on top of their game till the long arm of the law caught up with them.
Take the case of AK Rajeev alias Akhilesh Kumar, a key accused in the racket. He maintained a profile like an IPS officer. Another key accused Ashish Rai tried his hand at film production and was involved in the making of a few regional movies. The duo was among the seven people that the UP Special Task Force (STF) on June 14, busting a racket wherein conmen allegedly duped people after promising to award them government contracts.
Police investigation revealed that AK Rajeev always travelled in a white Ambassador car, which was often used by the top bureaucracy in the state till a few years back. He was accompanied by a couple of security guards dressed in ‘khaki’, much like police personnel.
An official privy to the investigation said Rajeev had pitched a tent outside his house in Nehru Enclave, and two-three so-called security guards were present there at
OFFICIAL-LOOKING AMBASSADOR CAR, KHAKI-CLAD GUARDS, INVESTMENT IN FILMS KEPT THE ACCUSED ON TOP OF THEIR GAME TILL THE STF CAUGHT UP WITH THEM
all times, giving onlookers and neighbours the impression that a senior police officer stayed there. The accused had put up a board near the house mentioning his name, the official said, adding, an arrow pointed towards his residence. It was painted in a colour resembling the police logo, the official added.
He said Rajeev had developed contacts in bureaucratic circles of Uttar Pradesh. Initially, he curried favour with official by sending them transfer lists of IPS and IAS officers in the days when WhatsApp and other instant messaging applications were not popular. He also started
frequently visiting their offices.
“While observing the lifestyle and functioning of bureaucrats, he copied their style, travelled in an ambassador car, accompanied security guards and a driver, as well as some subordinate staff to hold his bag and cell phones,” the official added. PK Mishra, who stays near Rajeev’s house in Nehru Enclave, said he always believed he (Rajeev) was a senior officer due to his lifestyle and the fact that security guards camped outside his house. Moreover, the frequent visits of red and blue beacon-fitted vehicles to his house till some time back also gave the impression that he was a bureaucrat, Mishra added.
Then there is Ashish Rai, who allegedly posed as deputy director of animal husbandry, before Indore-based businessman Manjeet Singh Bhatia to make him part with ₹9.72 crore by promising a government contract of ₹292.14 crore. Ashish Rai invested the money allegedly earned through fraud in film production, a police official privy to the investigation said.
The police official said the investigation further revealed that Ashish Rai also developed a network in the bureaucracy through some of his contacts between 2007 and 2012. Thereafter, Rajeev and Ashish Rai formed a common network with Anil Rai and Arun Rai, two other co-accused in the case, in 2013.
He said Ashish Rai had floated a film production house in Mumbai with the help of Arun Rai and produced some low-budget regional Bhojpuri films.
The accused allegedly had easy access to the Vidhan Sabha secretariat and even used a room there as their office, making people believe that they were capable of awarding government contracts, an STF official had said after the arrests. Additional superintendent of police (ASP), STF, Vishal Vikram Singh had said 14 people, including some journalists and staff of the Vidhan Sabha secretariat were involved in duping an Indore based trader Manjit Singh Bhatia and pocketing ₹9.72 crore for awarding a fodder supply contract in the animal husbandry department.