A gang within the Indian state of Bihar by some means managed to run a pretend police station out of a lodge for eight months earlier than lastly being caught by the precise police.

Cases of fraudsters impersonating law enforcement officials and troopers are usually not unusual in India, a rustic the place the concern of and the respect for these in uniform are widespread, however a gang within the city of Banka, Bihar state, took the rip-off to a complete different stage by organising a pretend police station simply 500 meters from an actual one. Apparently, the scammers operated their pretend station out of an area lodge, the place they posed as precise officers sporting lifelike uniforms, badges and even firearms. They are believed to have scammed a whole lot of individuals, having requested bribes for registering complaints, serving to them safe social housing or jobs within the police, or in any other case fixing their issues.

Photo: G-R Mottez/Unsplash

“We have heard cases of fake cops or investigating officers in the country. This is the first time we have heard of a fake police station,” one police officer (a real one) told reporters.

To make their police station seem legit, the gang allegedly paid folks from the agricultural space round Banka wages of about 500 rupees per day ($6.25) to fake that they have been working on the station. The complete factor was convincing sufficient that nobody filed any complaints with the actual police for eight months.

The gang’s daring rip-off was dismantled when Shambhu Yadav, who heads up the precise police station in Banka, occurred to identify two of the pretend officers as they have been making their method again to the pretend headquarters after harassing shop-owners at a shopping center at the moment underneath development to report back to their station to have their areas assigned to them.

Yadav grew to become suspicious when he observed that the pretend law enforcement officials had pretend firearms believed to have been ordered at an area workshop, as an alternative of a service-issue weapon. When requested the place they have been primarily based, the 2 “colleagues” grew to become evasive, so he took them each in for questioning at his police station.

The pretend officers finally led Shambhu Yadav and his workforce at their lodge police station, the place three different accomplices have been apprehended. Interestingly, all are denying any wrongdoing and claiming that they thought they have been working for the precise police… A sixth gang member, believed to be the chief, continues to be on the free.