Odisha youth targeted victims on WhatsApp calls, sold phones after Extortion
Bhubaneswar: An imposter who posed himself as a Maoist commander and extracted money from his targets has finally landed in the police net after his fresh trick to cheat some gullible persons went haywire and his real identity was exposed.
The imposter, who was arrested by Odisha’s Malkangiri district police on Friday, was identified as Santosh Kumar Mohanty alias Pintu, a resident of Khurda district. He was booked on the charges of fraud and extorting money from traders.
Malkangiri sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Sachin Patel informed that a complainant named Anil Kumar, a medicine shop owner, reported on August 9 that he received a WhatsApp call from Santosh asking him for money. The caller threatened him with dire consequences if the demand was not met.
According to SDPO Patel, similar complaints were also reported in other police stations in Malkangiri district. In one case, a victim had paid over Rs 1 lakh in installments while another person paid around Rs 3000.
During the investigation, it was ascertained that the accused used to get access to phone numbers of shops using Google and using street view and other tools, he used to make calls to the targets.
“The accused used second-hand phones and acquired SIMs from elderly persons. After installing WhatsApp and making ransom calls, he used to sell the phones,” Patel added.
Earlier, a few others in Malkangiri, Kouraput, and Rayagada districts were also arrested for impersonating Maoist leaders to haul out money from traders and rich people.