Man posing as vigilance officer arrested for extortion and cheating

The Special Task Force (STF) on Sunday arrested an imposter on the charges of duping several job aspirants. The accused, identified as Manoj Majhi, was arrested from the Krushnaprasad area in Puri district.

He was arrested by STF based on allegations that the fraudster, who posed as SP Vigilance, demanded Rs 1 crore from a complainant who is said to be an Additional Chief Engineer and other persons.

"During interrogation, the accused admitted that he was trying to extort money from various government officials as well as some contractors by impersonating a senior vigilance officer. It is also ascertained that the accused had cheated some persons promising to arrange government jobs, " STF officials said.

The accused has completed his MSc in Chemistry and PhD Degree from Sambalpur University and has tried to cheat/ extort money from several government officials including PD, DRDA, Mayurbhanj and PD, DRDA, Khordha.