Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Sep 1: The City CCB police have successfully arrested an accused who had been absconding for around three years after securing bail in a case involving extortion and fraud by falsely introducing himself as a director/official of the National Crime Investigation Bureau (NCIB) and failing to appear before the court for trial.

Sam Peter alias Danny Tharakan alias Antony (64,) is a resident of Kerala, currently residing in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

The accused, Shyam Peter alias T Sam Peter/Rahul Peter, had formed his own gang and impersonated officials of national investigation agencies. He targeted people involved in financial disputes, bank frauds and tax evasion cases. By convincing them that he was an authorised official, he collected money from them and indulged in fraud and extortion.

In this connection, Kadri police of Mangaluru conducted an operation at a lodge in Pumpwell on August 16, 2019, and arrested eight members of his gang, including Shyam Peter.

The accused subsequently obtained bail from the court but failed to appear before the court during the trial and had been absconding for around three years.

The investigation revealed that the accused had been living under different names in various places with the intention of concealing his real identity.

He is known to have used the following names: 1) Antony, 2) Rahul Peter, 3) Sam Peter, 4) Rajesh Robinson, 5) Rithu Richard, 6) Roy Jacob, 7) Robin Richardson, 8) Robinson, 9) Anthony Francis, 10) Sharoon Francis and currently 11) Danny Tharakan.

The accused reportedly had a pattern of committing a crime in one place, moving to another location and changing his name before residing there.

Sam Peter is reportedly a notorious fraudster, and an Interpol Red Corner Notice had been issued against him under the alias name ‘Rahul Peter’ since 2001.

Around 17 cases involving cheating and fraud have been registered against the accused at various places, including Mangaluru East police station, Ullal police station, Konaje police station, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru, Udupi City and Kushalnagar, as well as in the states of Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

At present, 17 warrants have been issued against the accused in connection with a case at Mangaluru Ullal police station. In a case registered at Mangaluru East police station, warrants were issued 14 times, following which a proclamation was issued.

The arrested accused has been handed over to Mangaluru East police station for further legal action.

Officers and personnel of the Mangaluru City CCB unit participated in the operation to trace and arrest the accused.