Fake cop cons real cop of Rs 4.5 lakh

Rourkela, January 12

In what seemed like a Bollywood conman movie replay, the Odisha Police on Wednesday arrested a man for allegedly impersonating as a police officer and duping a woman inspector in Sundargarh district of Rs 4.5 lakh.

Chittaranjan Tarai introduced himself to the woman as Deepak Panda, claiming to have been posted as a sub-inspector at the Baisinga police station in Mayurbhanj district, an official said.

The woman, who is the inspector in-charge of the Lephripara police station, paid the money after Tarai assured he would sell her land in Bhubaneswar, according to the complaint lodged in Sundargarh town.

When he failed to do so, she became suspicious and found out that there was no officer by the name he had given her at Baisinga, Subdivisional Police Officer (SDPO) Madhusikta Mishra said.

The complainant demanded the land or the money back, but Tarai sought Rs 50,000 more and threatened her with dire consequences. He also misbehaved with the woman at the hotel where they met, the official said.

Tarai’s WhatsApp and phone records showed that he had numbers of several female police officers, the SDPO added.

Preliminary investigation suggests he has cheated multiple individuals. A probe is on, police said.

He has been booked under various Indian Penal Code sections, including 420 (cheating), 307 (attempt to murder), 354 (outraging modesty) and 506 (criminal intimidation, it added.