New Delhi: A 52-year-old M.Tech degree holder from London who is a murder convict has been arrested for duping over 20 senior lawyers, Rajasthan High Court judges and other administrative officers by posing as a Supreme Court additional registrar, police said on Friday.

The accused has been identified as Aparajit Basak, a native of West Bengal who presently stays with his family in Maharashtra, and was arrested on Monday from Ahmedabad during a raid. "During interrogation it was found that Basak cheated over 20 senior lawyers, high court judges of Rajasthan and other administrative officers of the Rajasthan High Court on the pretext of aiding them in getting a good opportunity in judiciary. "He also lured some lawyers, saying he can arrange a personal meeting with the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and can help them in becoming judges," Special Commissioner of Police M.M. Oberoi told IANS.

"Basak is highly educated as he has done M.Tech from a London-based university. He acts confidentially, speaks English fluently. He also connected some lawyers and senior Rajasthan High Court judges through social networking sites such as WhatsApp and Facebook. "Basak was convicted in a murder case in Bengaluru in 2001 but was granted bail by the Supreme Court in 2015. He has been cheating people ever since." According to the officer, initially he used to cheat lawyers and senior judges of Rs 30-50,000 after pretending that a relative of the CJI has lost his wallet on a train going from Rajasthan and he needs to give him the money as per the directives of the CJI. "He then duped the victims on account of helping them get lucrative offers in the Supreme Court and high courts, including getting them chambers," Oberoi said. Basak would sometimes introduce himself as a Supreme Court official and also send emails and WhatsApp messages to the Rajasthan High Court judges, he said.

"The matter was brought to the notice of Supreme Court by two of the judges who doubted his credibility. It was then learnt that no such emails or official messages were sent to any of the judges." After this, Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik's office was approached by the CJI's office and an FIR was registered on February 1 by Special Cell of the Delhi Police, he said. "In one of the communications, the accused called the former judges of the Rajasthan High Court and said that the CJI wanted to appoint a few lawyers in the Rajasthan High Court and asked the names of their favourites. "Similarly, he approached some senior lawyers and told them he can arrange a meeting with the CJI and can help them in becoming judges," Oberoi added.

The accused is in a five-day police custody and his mobile phone, laptop and emails are being examined by the experts. Some fake identity cards belonging to the Supreme Court were seized from him, he said. "The investigation is underway to ascertain the numbers of lawyers and judges he had duped previously," the Special Commissioner of Police added.

IANS