HUBBALLI : He posed as an I-T official, “searched” a wealthy man’s house and scooted away with `1.5 lakh. But Shivanand Bhajantri alias Ramachandra Bhajantri from Dharwad took his role too far when he tried to outsmart the police on Thursday. Sub Urban station police smelt a rat and he is now cooling his heels in jail.
Bhajantri’s escapades may bear close resemblance to Akshay Kumar’s role in the Bollywood film Special-26. In the movie, a team of cons posing as CBI officers conduct raids to loot politicians and businessmen of their black money. But this conman donned many more roles: as I-T officer, spy, CCB special officer and revenue officer among others to dupe the rich.
The demonetisation move opened more doors for Bhajantri, as he tried to scare bigwigs in the name of raids. On Wednesday, Bhajantri and his team of three barged into the house of one Basavraj Poojar claiming to be I-T officials, “searched” the premises and took away `1.5 lakh, warning of more raids. The team also regularly extorted money from sand truck owners Mabusab and Imtiyaz posing as revenue officials.
They had already taken `60,000 but wanting more money, called the duo to a hotel near Old Bus Stand. The duo refused. Bhajantri then asked them to come to the Sub Urban police station. When they reached there, he was also present. He was trying to fool the police by producing a fake ID card. However, police realised he was lying and took him into custody. During interrogation, he confessed to his role in several con jobs.
At the same time, Poojar, who had come to lodge a plaint, was shocked to find the conman and was only too happy to file a case against him.