BHUBANESWAR: The Special Squad here on Sunday arrested a Bangalore-based MBA graduate on charges of cheating several jewellery store owners by impersonating Income Tax (I-T) officials in Sambalpur, Jharsuguda and Puri. The accused was identified as Vishal Rajkumar Nilenge (25), who was arrested from a star hotel near Sriya Square here.
Describing his modus operandi, the police said the accused had purchased gold worth nearly Rs one or two lakh from each store and opted for online payment. He allegedly cheated one store each in Sambalpur, Puri and Jharsuguda.
“The accused first introduced himself as a senior I-T officer and purchased gold. During the time of payment he insisted for online payment and showed them (store manager) a forged message of money debit from his account,” a senior police officer said.
Police said the store managers did not suspect Nilenge as they believed he was a real I-T officer. “The jewellery stores had checked their accounts at the presence of the accused. When they asked the accused about non-credit of the money in their accounts, the accused convinced them about slow internet connectivity. The store managers allowed him to leave with the gold,” the police officer said.
After some hours, the victims realized they were fooled and lodged complaints with the police in their respective districts. They had shared the CCTV footage of the conman with the police.
Acting on an intelligence input about Nilenge’s presence in Bhubaneswar, the special squad led by assistant commissioner of police Sanjeev Satapathy raided a hotel in Bhubaneswar and arrested the accused. Nilenge reached the state capital last week and visited several jewellery stores in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. However, he had not carried out his modus operandi in the twin cities.
“We have come to know Nilenge frequently is a frequent flyer, travelled to different cities by flights and stayed in star hotels. He was arrested in Bangalore in connection with a cheating case last year. We have seized a flight ticket from Bhubaneswar to Hyderabad for Tuesday. We have handed him over to Sambalpur police for interrogation. Later Jharsuguda and Puri police would take him on remand,” the officer said.