Surat: The city crime branch arrested a cook of an Anand-based hotel for allegedly impersonating Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) food department officer and cheating cafe owners in the area by demanding money for inspections and promising certificates carrying favourable customer reviews.Following an FIR lodged at Dumas police station by Kunal Patel, a café owner, police used technical surveillance that led to Yogesh Bhatt (30), who reportedly confessed to have posed as SMC officer. Bhatt is native of Uttarakhand and has been working in hotel for last few years.Patel (44) stated in the Fir that his manager received a call on Oct 27 from a man identifying himself as Nitinbhai, who claimed to be an SMC food department officer. The caller told the manager that he and his team would inspect the cafe and that charges would be levied for the visit. The manager asked him to speak to Patel directly.The alleged impostor then asked Patel to transfer Rs 3,500 as inspection charges and send videos showing the cafe’s cleanliness. Patel recorded and sent the videos as instructed. The caller subsequently demanded additional money, claiming the SMC team would issue a certificate featuring customer reviews during its visit. He also sought a deposit, which he claimed would be refunded after the inspection.Assuming the inspection was genuine ahead of Diwali, Patel transferred around Rs 30,000 towards various charges. However, when the SMC food department team failed to turn up, he contacted the caller and sought a refund. The man allegedly threatened him and refused to return the money.Dumas police inspector MV Patel told TOI, “The accused reportedly used multiple mobile numbers and WhatsApp calls to contact cafe owners. He sent QR codes and bank account details to receive payments through UPI transactions. We have booked the accused for impersonating a public servant, cheating and other offences under the BNS and IT Act. We have learnt that several other cafe owners in Dumas have also been cheated. We will record their statements and soon identify the accused.”
