The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (APCID) arrested Konduri Rajesh, a notorious cybercriminal who allegedly posed as ‘Telugu Desam Party NRI convener’ and deceived a number of people by promising to provide medical assistance.

The accused had siphoned off money from Chief Minister Relief Fund (CMRF) and was evading the police for the past three years.

“The Cybercrime police of the APCID arrested the accused while he was travelling from Bhutan to Nepal,” Director-General of Police (DGP-CID) Ravi Shankar Ayyanar told The Hindu on Monday (January 20).

A native of Rachavaripalli in Anantapur district’s Puttaparthi, Rajesh was wanted in nine fraud cases, seven in A.P. and two in Telangana, Mr. Ravi Shankar said.

“Rajesh collected information of people facing health problems and applied for financial assistance from the CMRF by using the hashtags of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan and Minister for IT Nara Lokesh through ‘X’,” the CID chief said.

Mr. Ravi Shankar said the accused contacted the CMRF applicants online, introduced himself as ‘TDP NRI Convener’ and duped them. The arrest was made by a team led by APCID Cybercrimes Superintendent of Police K. Krishna Prasanna and Inspector D. Ram Babu, Mr. Ravi Shankar added.