For a law-abiding citizen, the sight of a uniformed officer carries credibility and trust. Fraudsters often exploit this very faith, slipping into the guise of men in uniform to weave their deceit. One such case recently surfaced at the Aluva police station.
Suchithra (name changed), a woman in her late thirties from Vaikom, has long been an active presence on social media, especially WhatsApp. A curious learner, she often explored new features and content, though she remained cautious, aware of the growing menace of cyber frauds.
In the first week of September, she received a mysterious WhatsApp message.
The sender, identifying himself as Mahesh, a middle-aged man from Paravur, had typed a simple ‘Hi.’ As the number was unknown, Suchithra did not open the chat. She glanced at it through her notification pop-up and ignored it. More messages followed.
Mahesh claimed they were both members of a regional WhatsApp group. Curious but wary, Suchithra entered the group to verify his presence. She checked the members’ list and examined his display picture. Once she confirmed that he was indeed a member, she replied with a brief ‘Hi’.
Next, Mahesh claimed he was a circle inspector with the police special branch in Aluva. To win her confidence, he casually referred to acquaintances and even her relatives.
“Hearing this, Suchithra felt reassured. She was convinced that the man on the other side of the chat was trustable,” says an officer at the Aluva East police station. Well, she was wrong. Suchitra was in financial distress, making her a vulnerable target for a scam. “Mahesh had carefully studied her situation. Her family was struggling, with both her husband and child battling health problems,” says Sub-Inspector Nandakumar.
“Mahesh approached her with a fabricated story about a charity initiative run under the Kerala Police in association with certain corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects. Claiming to be one of the officers in charge, he promised to secure `4 lakh for house construction and an additional `1 lakh for medical expenses.”
Mahesh told her she needed to complete “minimal formalities” for the fund release. “She arranged `43,000 in cash through a chit fund. She sent the money over to Mahesh through a friend,” says Nandakumar, who was part of the probe team.
“In addition, she transferred `3,300 via Google Pay as ‘processing fee’. Mahesh also collected copies of her passport, Aadhaar card, PAN card, and photographs.”
As the promised funds never arrived, Suchithra pressed Mahesh to return her money and documents. Mahesh’s tone changed. He allegedly threatened her, boasting of his connections with local goons and a ‘quotation gang’.
Realising she had been duped, Suchithra approached the police. This time, the real one. On receiving the complaint, Ernakulam rural police chief M Hemalatha constituted a special investigation team led by DySP T R Rajesh and Aluva Station House Officer V M Kerson.
Using call records tracking, the team traced Mahesh near the Cusat premises in Kochi. Plainclothes officers spread through the area spotted him while he was on a phone call. They note that he was smartly dressed, and exuded the air of an officer.
“A similar incident was reported a month ago, where two individuals posing as police officers extorted money from travellers passing through Manappuram forest in Aluva,” notes Inspector Kerson. “We were in no mood to let this guy off the hook. Probe was meticulous and swift. Mahesh was produced before court and remanded to judicial custody.”