BHUBANESWAR: In an incident picked straight from a con artist’s script, a 40-year-old man not only posed as a police officer but also recreated an entire police station to catch hold of his former associate and settle scores with him.
The accused Ranjan Bhuyan of Aradhana Nagar in Sundarpada, a construction contractor, was arrested by Airfield police on Friday. His victim Ranjan Kumar Jena (38) of Ekamra Vihar in Keonjhar worked as a driver in the city.
Sources said Jena’s younger brother worked with Bhuyan until a few years back. The duo later parted ways for some unknown reasons. On Thursday evening, Bhuyan, posing as the inspector-in-charge of Airfield police station, summoned Jena to his ‘police station’. Since Jena had never visited the local police station, he believed him and reached the said address.
On his arrival, Jena saw Bhuyan wearing a police uniform having a name plate and three stars on his shoulder. The accused was also accompanied by his four associates who gave the impression that they had come to lodge complaints.
Soon after, Bhuyan asked Jena to call his younger brother to the police station. When the latter denied, Bhuyan along with his four associates, reportedly began thrashing Jena and snatched his mobile phone. When Jena became unconscious, the accused dropped him at his house.
On discussing the matter with his family, Jena realised that he had landed at a fake police station. A complaint in this regard was filed with Airfield police. Bhuyan was later arrested. During investigation, it was revealed that Bhuyan had turned his rented accommodation into a police station with table, chairs and police cap to hoodwink Jena and the entire scene was made up to catch hold of Jena’s brother.
On interrogating, Bhuyan claimed that he was producing a a web series and had bought the police uniform from a Chitralaya (costume shop). “His claims are being verified and investigation is underway,” said an officer of Airfield police station adding, the police uniform and cap were seized from the accused.