Shivamogga Police arrested a man from Andhra Pradesh for impersonating a Karnataka Lokayukta official and attempting to extort money from a government engineer.

The arrested person was identified as Dhananjaya Reddy, 33, a native of Anantapur district, currently residing in Kadiri, Sathya Sai district, Andhra Pradesh. He has been remanded to judicial custody, according to a press release issued by Shivamogga Police on Wednesday.

Reddy, the accused, contacted Thippeswamy, 59, an Assistant Executive Engineer with the Public Works Department (Electrical), Shivamogga sub-division, via WhatsApp on April 22, this year. Identifying himself as Dayanand, an official at the Lokayukta’s head office in Bengaluru, Reddy told the engineer that a complaint had been lodged against him and offered to help file a report on the case in exchange for an online money transfer. When Thippeswamy declined, stating he had no access to online payment and would prefer to meet in person, Reddy disconnected the call.

Thippeswamy subsequently visited the Lokayukta office in Shivamogga and confirmed that no official named Dayanand worked there and that no case had been registered against him. He filed a complaint with the CEN Police Station on April 23.

Police traced the contact number and arrested Reddy. Shivamogga Police Commissioner B. Nikhil and Additional Police Commissioner A.G. Cariappa commended Police Inspector Manjunath and ASI Prakash J.K. for their investigation work.