Mumbai man held for duping 40 job seekers of Rs 2 crore by posing as IT dept official

PALGHAR: Police have arrested a man from Navi Mumbai for allegedly duping over 40 persons to the tune of Rs 2 crore by posing as an Income Tax official, and promising jobs to them in the department, an official said on Wednesday.

The accused has been identified as Rinku Sharma (33), he said. "From 2021, Sharma posed himself as an Income Tax Commissioner and moved around in a car with the I-T department written on it and amber light fixed atop it. He offered to give a job to the complainant's daughter as an I-T Inspector and took Rs 15 lakh from him," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Madan Ballal told reporters.

He also issued a fake appointment letter, although the victim never got the job, the official said. Based on the complaint, the police launched a probe. They zeroed in on Sharma (33) and nabbed him on Tuesday, he added.

As many as 28 fake ID cards, including those with designations of Income Tax Assistant Commissioner, I-T Inspector, Assistant Commissioner in Home Department, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Police Commissioner, were recovered from him, the official said.

Senior inspector Pramod Badakh, who led the probe, said the accused conned more than 40 persons of over Rs 2 crore. "This is the primary estimate and further probe into the crime will reveal the extent of the fraud," he said.

An FIR has been registered at the Pelhar police station under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 318 (4) (cheating), 204 (personating a public servant), 319 (2) (cheating by personation), 338 (forgery) and others, the police said.