THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An imposter who duped several persons was arrested by the police on Saturday. Joy, 48, of Puthenvilaveedu, Nalanchira, was arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by a person for job fraud. Police said the accused has confessed to having duped several persons in different ways.
Station House Officer of Mannanthala police station Gopichandran, who is investigating the case, said the accused used fake identity cards of different organisations and masqueraded as central excise commissioner, railway TTE, IPS officer and senior officer of various state government departments.
Fake appointment orders and police and TTE uniforms were seized from his house. Fake nameplates displaying ‘Harikumar IPS’ and ‘Joy Thomas IPS’ were also seized.
The SHO said the accused used a clever way to misguide those who visited his house after being defrauded. “On the wall, the visitor would find Joy’s photo adorned with a garland, just like how photos of deceased persons are displayed. There would be remains of burnt incense sticks in front of the photo,” Gopichandran said.
Joy would stop using the SIM card used to contact the victim once the money was collected, the police said. The present case against Joy is based on the complaint of a person from whom he collected Rs 36,000 after promising a job in the airport. On hearing the news of the arrest, a shop owner approached the police with a different complaint. He said the accused had loaned items from his shop for a huge sum by posing as the driver of an IG.
Police said they expect more complaints against the person in the coming days. The accused told the police that he had duped persons by promising jobs in several institutions, including the Legislative Assembly. He was produced in court and remanded.