Kolkata: In an incident that is similar to the Special 26 film where a team of criminals (played by Akshay Kumar and Anupam Kher) pose as CBI officers and conduct raids, robbing politicians and businessmen., a gang of fraudsters impersonating Kolkata Police officers raided a logistics office in south Kolkata and fled with Rs. 2 crore in cash.The incident took place on Thursday morning at a ground-floor office on Pratapaditya Road, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Tollygunge police station.Following an intensive investigation, the police arrested one suspect on Saturday, who identified himself as the landlord of the property where the crime occurred. The cops though are still verifying his claims.The Investigators have managed to recover Rs. 5 lakh from his possession so far. The suspect was subsequently produced before a city court, which remanded him in police custody for further interrogation.According to cops, the entire operation was a meticulously planned criminal conspiracy designed to trap the complainant, a businessman.The main accused had introduced himself as the proprietor and reportedly dishonestly induced the complainant into bringing Rs. 2 crore in cash as an advance payment to buy a plot of land. To gain the victim’s confidence, the accused gave a false assurance that he would convert the massive cash amount into a secure banker’s cheque or demand draft in the victim’s favour, claiming to use his personal banking contacts at a private bank’s Kasba branch.Tricked by the assurance, the complainant arrived at the Pratapaditya Road office on July 9, and handed over the Rs. 2 crore in cash. Moments after the transaction was completed, several other members of the gang entered the office. The men were in civil dress – around four to five of them – but carried white helmets bearing the official emblem of the Kolkata Police.Introducing themselves as cops deployed at the Lalbazar Police Headquarters, the fake officers claimed that illegal financial activities were taking place. They staged a mock search operation, aggressively questioning and intimidating the office staff about the cash. The fraudsters then staged a fake arrest, taking the main accused person away with them under the pretext of bringing him to Lalbazar for interrogation in a forgery case. They also seized the entire cash amount of Rs. 2 crore before fleeing, the court was informed by Alipore police court public prosecutor Sourin Ghosal.It was only later that the complainant realised he had been thoroughly deceived. A cross-check revealed that the office proprietor had not been arrested and that the men in helmets were impostors. Realizing the massive financial loss, the victim approached the Tollygunge police station to lodge a formal complaint.Detectives from the Kolkata Police department joined local police to track down the criminals, eventually identifying the landlord through local CCTV footage. Acting on a tip-off, officers detained him at the Tollygunge police station late on July 10, where he confessed to his direct involvement during a prolonged interrogation.This case closely mirrors another recent incident on Digambar Jain Temple Road under the Posta police station, where helmet-wearing fake cops robbed a silver merchant’s employee of Rs. 2.5 lakh. No arrests have been made in the Posta case yet.Senior cops believe that an organised inter-state gang might be operating in the city using this specific modus operandi, and a manhunt has been launched to arrest the remaining associates.
