Man held for bid to extort Faridabad official under ACB lens

Additional chief executive officer Anita Yadav, a Haryana cadre IAS officer, is facing an ACB investigation in the alleged ₹200-crore scam in the Faridabad Municipal Corporation (FMC)

Gurugram: A man from Udaipur in Rajasthan was arrested in Gurugram on Thursday for allegedly demanding ₹5 crore from an additional chief executive officer of the Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority (FMDA) and offering to remove her name from a case being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Haryana.

Virender Vij, deputy commissioner of police (east), said Rishi Sharma was arrested after multiple teams conducted raids at different places. (Representational Image)

The suspect was identified as Rishi Sharma.

Additional chief executive officer Anita Yadav, a Haryana cadre IAS officer, is facing an ACB investigation in the alleged ₹200-crore scam in the Faridabad Municipal Corporation (FMC).

Yadav said she received repeated calls from the suspect on March 3 and 4 after which she approached police. The caller introduced himself as Rishi and told Yadav to pay him ₹5 crore to get her name cleared in a matter that is currently under investigation by ACB. He said he was instructed by a politician to contact her.

Virender Vij, deputy commissioner of police (east), said Sharma was arrested after multiple teams conducted raids at different places. “He has confessed to crime and revealed that he had read about the scam online. After a few drinks, he searched for the complainant’s number and called her on March 3 and 4 at 9 pm on WhastApp and demanded money,” he said.

Vij said that Sharma will be produced before a court on Friday.