ED arrests ex-sepoy for conducting raids posing as investigating officer

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested its former sepoy for conducting a fake raid at a shop in Kolkata impersonating as the investigating officer and issuing "forged" summons to an accused to extort money, the agency said Tuesday.

Sukumar Kamaliya, holding the rank of a head constable in the paramilitary force SSB, worked with the ED at its Kolkata office on deputation between 2019-2020, the agency said in a statement.

He was taken into custody on April 16 and later produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata. The court sent him to ED custody till April 29, the agency said.

He was found to be involved in conducting unauthorised search operation (by way of impersonation) in Kolkata and also issuing forged/fraudulent summons to one of the persons under investigation by impersonating the investigating officer," the ED alleged.

The sepoy, in one case, obtained information about the investigation being conducted against a person in an "unauthorised" manner and during his posting and after his repatriation, as a part of an "extortion" plan, issued a "fraudulent" summons to the said person in order to extort money from him, the ED said.

"The said summons was forwarded through WhatsApp from his mobile so that the said person should contact him directly and money can be extorted from him," it said.

In another matter, Kamaliya conducted an "unauthorised" search operation in a coffee shop in south Kolkata and threatened its owner to "extort" Rs 10 lakh.

The owner of the coffee shop lodged a complaint with the ED which took cognisance of the matter and raided the residence of its former sepoy that resulted in the recovery and seizure of certain "incriminating" documents and electronic gadgets, the agency said.