Rs 55L recovered from searches at CBI imposters' premises

New Delhi: The CBI searches at the premises of the accused, who had allegedly tried to demand bribe money from TDP Rajya Sabha MP, Rayapati Sambasiva Rao by impersonating senior agency officers, have resulted in the recovery of nearly Rs 55 lakh in cash in addition to other evidentiary materials.

Officials here said that the searches were conducted at premises related to the accused in Chennai, Madurai, Hyderabad and Sivakasi in connection with the case, from where 10 mobile phones with SIM cards were recovered along with locker keys and several property documents.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had registered an FIR in the case a few days ago against Manivardhan Reddy and Selvam Ramaraj of Hyderabad and Madurai respectively for demanding a bribe from Rao in exchange for granting him relief in a bank fraud case worth hundreds of crores where he is an accused.

In fact, the CBI said that the alleged impersonators had even spoofed the agency's official landline extension in New Delhi to make it seem like the calls were being made from the CBI headquarters in the Capital. The agency had arrested both Reddy and Ramaraj on Saturday in trap case and conducted the searches. The CBI has also alleged that Reddy personally met with Rao in Guntur earlier this month to demand the bribe amount and threaten the politician with dire consequences if it is not paid in two days.