Son Impersonates Maoist to Extort Rs 35 Lakh From Own Father in Odisha: Police Investigation Reveals Family Betrayal

The perpetrator placed a threatening letter inside his father's vehicle.

In a bizarre incident, authorities have apprehended a 24-year-old individual who attempted to extort Rs 35 lakh from his own father by impersonating a Maoist operative in Odisha's Kalahandi district.

Police identified the suspect as Ankush Agarwal, whose father Dinesh Agarwal is a prominent local contractor. The arrest came more than a week after the father lodged a formal complaint with law enforcement.

The case originated from Rupra Road within the jurisdiction of Narla police station.

According to police reports, Ankush crafted a threatening letter on October 6, claiming to be a Maoist member, and strategically placed it in his father's automobile. The note demanded Rs 35 lakh and included threats of violence against the entire family if the payment wasn't made.

To enhance the credibility of his scheme and increase pressure, Ankush also sent a similar threatening communication to his father's business associate. Upon receiving the threatening letter, the family promptly reported the incident to authorities. As investigators delved deeper into the case, they made the startling discovery that the threat originated from the complainant's son himself.

Bhawanipatna Superintendent of Police Nagaraj Devarakonda revealed to NDTV that the letter appeared suspicious as it contained multiple misspellings of known Maoist operatives' names. The overall content seemed amateurish, he noted.

The letter was composed in Hindi. The disorganized nature of its contents and specific personal details about the family suggested involvement from someone intimately familiar with their circumstances, Devarakonda explained. "We received intelligence from an individual with whom the young man had shared his plan," he stated.

"The suspect was employed on a contractual basis with an organization. We took him into custody after he admitted to the offense during questioning," the officer added.

(With contributions from Dev Kumar)