The Bihar Economic Offences Unit arrested a 20-year-old petty contractor for allegedly posing as a vigilance official and extorting government engineers by threatening to implicate them in disproportionate assets cases, officials said. Investigators recovered a mobile phone, threatening chats, contact details of engineers and government officials, photographs of official premises and a forged identity card, according to the Times of India report.
The accused, identified as Nihal Kumar Rai, is from Pachfera village in Gopalganj district and was residing in Patna’s Gardanibagh area. He worked as a petty contractor with the building construction department. The EOU said its investigation indicated that he may have targeted several engineers, including executive engineers, across government departments.
The case began after Kripanath Chandra Vishwas, an executive engineer posted with the Flood Control Division in Salmari, Katihar, approached the EOU. In his complaint, Vishwas alleged that he received a call on November 6 from a person claiming to be a vigilance official. The caller allegedly said that a disproportionate assets complaint had been filed against him and demanded Rs 2 lakh to settle the matter.
According to the complaint, the caller promised to provide a copy of the alleged complaint and claimed that the EOU, Vigilance and Special Vigilance Unit were the same department. He allegedly told Vishwas that cases could be settled through him. On November 7, the caller asked Vishwas to come to Patna and threatened a possible raid if he did not comply.
During another call on the same day, Vishwas was allegedly instructed to reach Vikas Bhawan on November 9 for a meeting with a senior official. Instead, he approached the EOU office and informed its officials. The agency subsequently registered a case at the Economic Offences police station under Sections 204, 308(3), 308(7) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The EOU said technical investigation led to Rai’s arrest on November 9. During interrogation, he allegedly admitted to making the calls and told investigators that he had previously extorted money from several engineers using similar threats. The agency said the seized phone contained threatening chats, screenshots, contact numbers of engineers and other government officials, photographs of a vigilance unit signboard and a senior officer’s nameplate.
Investigators also recovered a forged identity card issued by Bipard in the name of Rishu Kumar. The card allegedly carried the signature of an assistant director. The recovery of the identity card and photographs of official signs and nameplates formed part of the material cited by investigators in the case.
Rai was remanded to judicial custody. The EOU said further investigation was underway to identify possible accomplices and determine the extent of the alleged extortion network. The agency is also examining whether other government engineers or officials were approached using similar claims of vigilance or anti-corruption action.
