MANGALURU: Military Intelligence Unit and Mangaluru North police in a joint operation nabbed a man for impersonating an Indian Army Junior Commissioner Officer and cheating. He was arrested from his rented house at Lord Krishna Estate in Surathkal. The arrested is identified as Manjunath Reddy. The police invoking Section 171, 419 and 420 registered a case against Reddy at Surathkal police station and seized materials like army uniform used by the accused to impersonate a serving Indian Army soldier, along with a fake Indian Army identity card, fake Indian Army dependent card and fake Indian Army rubber stamps.
Manjunath Reddy had also claimed that he earlier worked at Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Centre at Belagavi campus as a civilian employee where he purchased all the Indian Army attire. The arrest was made by Mangaluru North police along with Military Intelligence Unit, Number 4 Detachment Southern Command Liaison Unit on November 24 at 11:00 am in the morning.
Mangaluru City Police Commissioner P S Harsha confirming the arrest said: “During the interrogation, he confessed that he posed as an Indian Army Junior Commissioner Officer of the rank of Naib Subedar. He also organised various public events like felicitations to retired army officers and families of martyred army personnel to initially gain people’s trust.”
He further said later he duped many by taking money after making false promises regarding jobs at the Indian Army. The police said they suspect that he may be part of a bigger fake recruitment scam. The army also suspects that they may be getting help from some insiders, especially in the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Centre at Belagavi or any Maratha Regiment Army Unit. The army intelligence also said no army selection is done by means of paying money to fraudulent agents and asked aspirants to be very cautious.