BENGALURU, 7 AUG

A 35-year-old former police informant has been arrested on charges of extortion and blackmail in City.

Syed Sarfaraz Ahmed, who resided at Bharati Nagar, is accused of using his connections in the police force to lodge false complaints of human rights violations.

The arrest follows an incident on 24 July, when police detained Irshad at Shivajinagar police station for creating a disturbance and violating Arms Act. The next day, a Deputy Superintendent from Karnataka State Human Rights Commission visited the station in response to a complaint alleging illegal detention. After reviewing the case, the officer found no evidence of police misconduct.

However, suspicions arose when it came to light that similar complaints had been made against police stations in Hennur, RT Nagar, Shivajinagar and Ramamurthy Nagar. The situation intensified when Shivajinagar police received information from another informant that Ahmed was soliciting Rs 50,000 to withdraw his false complaint.

Police set up a sting operation. They faked an agreement to Ahmed's demands and arrested him when he arrived to collect the money. During interrogation, Ahmed admitted to running similar extortions across police stations, particularly in East, Northeast and Whitefield divisions.

A police official said, “Ahmed, who was an informant, had built a network of lower-ranking police personnel, especially within the crime units, who supplied him with information. He frequented police stations to gather details on detainees and then exploited this information to file false cases with KSHRC, demanding money to retract his complaints once officers were under scrutiny.”

Police have filed an FIR against him under sections 308 (2) for extortion and 132 for assaulting a public servant, under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.–Salar News