PUNE: A recovery agent from Bhandup was arrested on Monday night on the charge of posing as a police officer and duping a woman (42) from Mangalwar Peth of Rs68,000 on the pretext of helping her son secure a job in the state police force.
The arrested recovery agent, Suresh Ishwar Pednekar (36), would be in police custody till December 24.
Assistant inspector Sandeep Jore from Samarth police said Pednekar often met policemen for work while working in a finance firm. He started posing as “assistant inspector Suhas Patil” from Thane police to get his official work done.
Jore said, “During one of his visits to Pune, Pednekar met the complainant through a known person. He introduced himself as ‘assistant inspector Patil’. He said he had good contacts with senior officers and promised to help her son in securing a job in police force. The woman then paid him varying amounts, collectively Rs80,000.”
After lockdown enforcement was curbed, the suspect got a job of a recovery agent in a Pune-based financial firm. He continued communicating with the woman and returned Rs12,000. He said he would repay the balance amount of Rs68,000, but failed.
“A beat marshal on Monday spotted a man wearing police shoes quarrelling with a woman over returning money. After the marshal inquired, the woman told him the man duped her. He was taken to the police station. Aadhaar and PAN cards from his possession established his identity as Pednekar.”
The woman’s FIR was lodged under sections 419, 420 (related to cheating) and 170 (impersonation) of the IPC.