BHUBANESWAR : Police on Monday arrested two persons for allegedly impersonating as police personnel. Around 386 currency notes of Rs 500 denomination amounting to Rs 1.93 lakh were also seized from the house of one of the accused. The notes are, however, suspected to be counterfeit.
The duo identified as Manas Ranjan Senapati (26) and Ashish Swain (23) were nabbed during a checking for drunk driving on Janpath road within Saheed Nagar police limits late on Sunday night.
As police stopped their car, Senapati allegedly misbehaved with a sub-inspector posted at Saheed Nagar police station and resisted the checking claiming he was a probationary DSP. Swain too claimed he was a probationary constable.
The duo had also put up a police nameplate on the car’s dashboard. Suspecting their activities, the blocking team informed Saheed Nagar IIC Suchitra Birya Das about the matter. Das then reached the spot and questioned both of them.
During checking of their car, one police uniform including belt and cap and a fake police identity card mentioning Senapati as an SI posted in Bhadrak were seized. Five passport size photos of Senapati in police uniform and a fake appointment letter mentioning he was appointed as OPS by IG personnel were also seized from him, police said.
Both were taken for questioning and later arrested. On Monday morning, the cops raided Senapati’s residence in Madhusudan Nagar area and found the currency notes.
Investigation revealed Senapati was earlier arrested in 2022 by Ranapur police in Nayagarh in connection with a similar cheating case.
Preliminary probe suggests the two accused, posing as cops, cheated gullible youths on the promise of providing them jobs in Odisha Police. “The seized notes are suspected to be fake and would be sent to a laboratory for examination. Further probe is continuing,” said DCP Jagmohan Meena.