A man who allegedly impersonated Pratap Sarnaik, the Shiv Sena MLA from Ovala Majiwada, and demanded money from a businessman was arrested yesterday, police said. Senior Inspector D S Dhole of Kasarwadavali police station told PTI that the man, posing as MLA Sarnaik, had called up a resort owner and asked for funds for a function. "The arrested accused also told the resort owner that he (caller) was sending a person to whom he should give Rs 51,000," said Dhole. Police said that the resort owner, who grew suspicious, called up Sarnaik himself.
Once the resort owner realised that the person who had called him was an impostor, he asked his office staff to keep the person busy when he came to collect the money. The person who visited was detained by the office staff and handed over to the police. Police identified the impostor caller as Siddesh Samant (39) of suburban Bhayander and the person who came to collect the money as Rajesh alias Ganpat. A case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code was registered and the two were remanded in police custody till Monday, police said. He added that further investigations were underway to find out if the arrested persons had duped other people using the same modus operandi.
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