Man takes away youngster’s phone, cash posing as cop in Kochi
KOCHI: Police and other government officials getting caught red-handed is nothing new in Kerala. But in a rare incident, a person posing as a policeman snatched money and a mobile phone from a youth for not producing his driving licence at Marine Drive in Kochi.
The incident took place at 10 pm on October 22 and the Ernakulam Central Police registered a case last week. It was Anoop T Babu, 26, of Vallarpadom, who lost his money and mobile phone after being tricked by the fraudster.
“The victim was standing by the side of his parked scooter near the boat jetty at Marine Drive when a person wearing kakhi pants, and shoes approached him claiming that he was a policeman working at Palarivattom station. He said his name was Shameer. He asked the victim to show his driving licence. When he could not present his driving licence, the accused directed him to take the vehicle to Palarivattom station for registering a case,” a police officer said.
The fraudster got on the victim’s scooter and directed him to take it to Palarivattom. Instead of Palarivattom, the accused guided the victim to a place in Edappally. “After reaching Edappally, the accused asked the victim to show his mobile phone. Later, he checked the wallet of the victim. He took the mobile phone worth Rs 14,000 and Rs 1,000 kept in his wallet.
Later, the accused asked the victim about the money in his bank account and forced him to transfer Rs 1,300 to a mobile phone number through Google Pay. The victim was directed to be present at Palarivattom police station when he gets a phone call.
The victim realised about the cheating when there was no contact and checked whether such a police officer works at Palarivattom police station,” an officer said. Police have registered a case for cheating by impersonation and cheating under IPC Sections 419 and 420. “We have information about a person who was involved in similar cheating activities posing as a police official,” a police official said.