Home Guard arrested for extortion, fraud in Mangaluru

MANGALURU: A Home Guard has been arrested by Kavoor police on charges of impersonating a policeman and extorting money from a woman, said city police commissioner Kuldeep Kumar R Jain. He said that the accused Shivaraj Devadiga, a resident of Sarakari Gudde in Ishwara Nagara of Kavoor was working at a fire station. Following his arrest, he was suspended by the District Home Guard.
In a complaint, the woman alleged that Devadiga, posing as a police officer, demanded money and collected Rs 38,000 from her by issuing threats. Devadiga claimed that the police had received a complaint against the woman for accumulating money and gold by running a massage parlour and demanded money to close the case. It is alleged that he had even warned of carrying out a raid on the complainant if she failed to hand over the money to him.
The police registered a case under the IPC. The police commissioner has requested Mangalureans not to fall prey to such threacts and inform the department so that it can take stringent action. One can call 112 during an emergency.
District Home Guard Commandant Dr Muralee Mohan Choontharu stated that the accused was not regular for duty and highly irregular in attending weekly parades. A notice was served to him a few months back, for which he has not responded. "He is not fit to be a home guard. He has been suspended with immediate effect as advised by Mangaluru unit officer Mark Sera. We will terminate him immediately as per Home Guard rule, once FIR is registered,'' he said.