Ahmedabad, Aug 21 The police in Gujarat's Banaskantha, on Thursday, exposed a major racket involving a man posing as an IPS officer on social media to dupe people, officials said.
The accused created seven to eight fake accounts using the name and photograph of Banaskantha Superintendent of Police (SP) Akshayraj Makwana and allegedly extorted money from unsuspecting victims.
The fraud came to light when the impostor's account interacted with the real SP, leading to the racket's exposure.
According to officials, the accused posed as SP Makwana on social media, sending friend requests to people under the pretext of selling furniture and other items at cheap rates.
Once trust was built, he would demand money.
Several people are believed to have fallen prey and lost money.
Following the incident, SP Makwana appealed to citizens to remain alert against such fake accounts.
He clarified that no government or police officer ever seeks money through social media.
Citizens have been urged not to make any financial transactions without verifying such messages.
The accused has been arrested, and further investigation is underway.
Police have advised social media users to remain vigilant and immediately report any suspicious activity to the cybercrime cell.
Gujarat has become a hotspot for impersonation scams.
In Ahmedabad, two youths were arrested for masquerading as Special Operations Group (SOG) Head Constables with forged ID cards bearing the IGP insignia; a third individual was later arrested for creating those IDs.
In Mehsana, authorities detained three women after one posed as a GST officer to extort Rs 5 lakh from a shopkeeper.
A separate incident saw four men posing as a central agency officers with fake Ashoka Pillar ID cards claiming links to a "National Crime Investigation Commission" and were arrested when trying to access the SP's office.
In Amreli, the Local Crime Branch detained an individual dressed in uniform and posing as police -- although no fraud was confirmed yet.
Additionally, Junagadh police uncovered a massive job scam: a man impersonating a Deputy Superintendent of Police collected more than Rs 2.11 crore from 17 victims by promising them government jobs.
Overall, more than 19 such impersonation cases -- involving fake customs officers, collectors, CID, ED, NIA, and other roles -- have emerged across the state in the past two years.
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