Man Posing as CBI Officer duped a Person of Rs.26 Lakh arrested by Police

A 43-year-old man from Maharashtra’s Thane district was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly impersonating a CBI officer and defrauding a person of Rs 26 lakh.

According to the FIR, the 51-year-old victim from the Mira Road area was a partner in a metal refining company in neighbouring Palghar that was engaged in the purchase of scrapped batteries, recycling and extracting lead from them, and selling the same in the market.

The GST commissioner’s office had raised a query about the purchase of scrapped batteries in 2021-22, pointing out certain flaws in the transactions and issuing a notice to the firm.

According to the FIR, the victim submitted all of his transaction documents to the GST commissioner and was waiting for a clean chit. Due to the delay, the victim enquired from his acquaintances, who referred him to a man from the Mira Road area, according to the report.

The man pretended to be a “CBI commissioner” and offered to assist the victim. According to the FIR, he allegedly stole money from the victim on several occasions between August 2022 and April of this year. He also suggested some investment options to the victim and took money while promising high returns, according to the report.

According to the report, the accused had also displayed a sign on his car claiming to be a CBI officer.

However, neither the victim nor the promised returns on investments received a clean chit in the GST case. The accused later gave evasive responses that he had invested the money in a gutka business that had failed, according to the police.

When the victim asked the accused to return the money, he blocked his phone number, according to the official.

According to the official, the victim filed a police complaint on Sunday, and the accused was arrested and booked on Monday under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 170 (personating a public servant).

According to him, the accused was later brought before a local court, which remanded him in police custody until September 14. The police are now investigating whether the accused defrauded other people in the same way, he added.