In Bengaluru, Karnataka, two housekeeping employees, Nagraju P. and Dadapeer Ballari, were arrested by the police for allegedly impersonating GST officials to extort money from a gutkha trader. The men, ages 37 and 35 respectively, were working under an outsourcing contract at the GST office and managed to threaten the trader into paying a sum of ₹5 lakh under the pretense of carrying out a government operation.

Upon receiving intelligence about their activities, vigilance officers conducted a search of their quarters located within the office premises. During the search, the police found ₹1 lakh in cash from Ballari and ₹1.5 lakh from Nagraju, along with forged identification cards issued in the names of real government departments and claiming they were intelligence officers and other ranks. Additionally, six fake search warrants were seized during the operation.

The investigation revealed that on January 10, both individuals posed as GST officials and used intimidation tactics to coerce a gutkha trader into complying with their demands. This case highlights serious issues regarding security and the prevalence of fraud within government systems, prompting discussions about the need for better verification processes to prevent similar incidents in the future.