2 cyber crooks held for impersonating Lokesh

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested another two cyber fraudsters involved in a series of online scams, including impersonating minister for HRD Nara Lokesh, to deceive the public.

According to CID officials, on Wednesday, the accused Guttikonda Sai Srinath of Guntur (A2) and Chitthadithala Sumanth of Sangareddy, Telangana (A3) used the Minister’s photograph as a WhatsApp profile picture and posed as “Surendra, TDP NRI Convener” to cheat people under the pretext of offering medical assistance. The case was registered under Crime No. 07/2024, U/s 318(4), 319(2) BNS, and Sections 66-C & 66-D of the IT Act, 2000, at the CCPS, CID, Mangalagiri.

The accused contacted victims via WhatsApp using US based numbers and sent fake US bank transfer receipts to convince them that Rs.10 lakh had been credited to their accounts. They then impersonated bank officials and demanded 4% remittance fees to “release” the funds, defrauding victims of Rs.2.32 lakh.

Investigations revealed that A-2 and A-3, along with the main accused Konduri Rajesh (A-1), were involved in nine cyber fraud cases across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, cheating victims of over Rs.54 lakh between 2022 and 2025.

After 10 months of surveillance, CID teams led by inspector D Ram Babu and supervised by DSP B Ravi Kiran apprehended the duo on October 28, at Masjid Banda at Kondapur, in Hyderabad. A1 Konduri Rajesh was arrested on January 5 this year.

In this connection, the CID urged the public to verify all online requests for financial assistance and remain vigilant against cyber fraud.