Imposter Cop Arrested for Duping on Jobs

Hyderabad: The east zone task force and Masab Tank police on Sunday arrested Kadavath Somla Naik, 44, for posing as a sub-inspector and collecting money from job-seekers on the false pretext of getting them government employment. The police arrested him when he was trying to lure a target at Masab Tank.

Police said Naik, wearing an uniform, had collected Rs.2 lakh from one Gowri Shankar of Banjara Hills promising to arrange for a job for him in the police department and cheated him. So far, Naik had collected Rs.11 lakh from different persons, said task force DCP S. Rashmi Perumal.

The DCP said Naik was enamoured of a police job and had started wearing a police uniform in 2012. Over the past decade, he had taken to attending various gatherings in uniform.

Police said Naik, a native of Wanaparthy district, had completed his Intermediate from a government college in Ghanpur and was selected as an Indian Army soldier for general duty (GD) in 2004. He underwent Army training for six months at the Artillery Centre in 2004, police said.

Unable to withstand the rigours of training, Naik fled from the centre. Later that year, he was selected by the Assam Rifles but had to drop out after developing hydrocele. He tried unsuccessfully to join the police in undivided AP.

Naik then started working as a car driver in the city. As Naik pretended to be a police officer, his villagers and locals started to believe him and fell for his promises of securing a government job.