Bengaluru: A man posing as a police officer allegedly extorted Rs 3.4 lakh from a 24-year-old software engineer recently. The miscreant approached the victim when he was in the parking lot of his apartment and introduced himself as a police officer from the narcotics wing.
In his complaint to Bellandur police, Archit Kaushik, a resident of an apartment in Valliyamma Layout of Kaikondrahalli, said that on December 19, he went out to buy tobacco and rolling papers from a shop. He returned to his apartment on his rented scooter and was parking the vehicle around 9.30pm when a man in his mid-30s and in plain clothes approached him and introduced himself as a police officer from the narcotics wing.
He alleged that Kaushik was rolling ganja and threatened to put him behind bars under the NDPS Act. The man then asked Kaushik to accompany him to the station. “He started harassing me, saying he was from the narcotics wing. Since he had managed to enter the apartment premises, I thought he must have spoken to the security guards and gained access. He asked for details of my family and myself, and got to know that I was living with my mother,” Kaushik told TOI.
“The man started playing with my emotions, saying my mother would be distraught if she got to know that I was smoking ganja. He further claimed they have already caught a few persons. He took me on my rented scooter to multiple places, including ATM kiosks. He would stop a few metres away from a kiosk and send me in to withdraw money. Later, he took me to isolated places. He spoke to someone on his phone in Kannada and told the person on the other side that I was living with my mother. He later took me near a building and told me it was a police station,” Kaushik said.
By then, Kaushik had withdrawn Rs 38,000 from multiple ATM kiosks. He was even forced to apply for an instant loan, but that didn’t work out.
“The man went somewhere and brought a UPI scanner. Later, he made me call my friends and put the phone on loudspeaker. He instructed me to borrow money from them. As my friends transferred money to my digital payment app, he made me scan a QR code and transfer the money. I ended up paying him Rs 3 lakh online and Rs 38,000 in cash,” the techie narrated.
According to Kaushik, the fake cop asked him to ride back to his apartment. He got off near the apartment and suggested that Kaushik vacate the house in the next couple of days. He claimed Kaushik was already under surveillance and if he is caught another time, he wouldn’t be able help.
“After he left, I explained the incident to my friends and learnt that it was a fraud,” added Kaushik.
A senior police officer said the same miscreant has extorted a few other people, including a neighbour of a cop.
In his complaint to Bellandur police, Archit Kaushik, a resident of an apartment in Valliyamma Layout of Kaikondrahalli, said that on December 19, he went out to buy tobacco and rolling papers from a shop. He returned to his apartment on his rented scooter and was parking the vehicle around 9.30pm when a man in his mid-30s and in plain clothes approached him and introduced himself as a police officer from the narcotics wing.
He alleged that Kaushik was rolling ganja and threatened to put him behind bars under the NDPS Act. The man then asked Kaushik to accompany him to the station. “He started harassing me, saying he was from the narcotics wing. Since he had managed to enter the apartment premises, I thought he must have spoken to the security guards and gained access. He asked for details of my family and myself, and got to know that I was living with my mother,” Kaushik told TOI.
“The man started playing with my emotions, saying my mother would be distraught if she got to know that I was smoking ganja. He further claimed they have already caught a few persons. He took me on my rented scooter to multiple places, including ATM kiosks. He would stop a few metres away from a kiosk and send me in to withdraw money. Later, he took me to isolated places. He spoke to someone on his phone in Kannada and told the person on the other side that I was living with my mother. He later took me near a building and told me it was a police station,” Kaushik said.
By then, Kaushik had withdrawn Rs 38,000 from multiple ATM kiosks. He was even forced to apply for an instant loan, but that didn’t work out.
“The man went somewhere and brought a UPI scanner. Later, he made me call my friends and put the phone on loudspeaker. He instructed me to borrow money from them. As my friends transferred money to my digital payment app, he made me scan a QR code and transfer the money. I ended up paying him Rs 3 lakh online and Rs 38,000 in cash,” the techie narrated.
According to Kaushik, the fake cop asked him to ride back to his apartment. He got off near the apartment and suggested that Kaushik vacate the house in the next couple of days. He claimed Kaushik was already under surveillance and if he is caught another time, he wouldn’t be able help.
“After he left, I explained the incident to my friends and learnt that it was a fraud,” added Kaushik.
A senior police officer said the same miscreant has extorted a few other people, including a neighbour of a cop.