How grocer fell victim to fake policewala's 'money laundering' threat, losing Rs 18 lakh

A man posing as a police officer from Lucknow allegedly deceived a 66-year-old grocery shop owner in Maharashtra's Thane district, extracting Rs 18 lakh from him by falsely claiming to protect him from legal trouble. The fraudster, reaching out to the grocer in Badlapur, Thane, between May 9 and 30, purported to be an officer from the Alambagh police station in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

The imposter informed the victim of a purported money laundering case filed against him at the Lucknow police station. To evade arrest, he demanded Rs 18,02,999 from the grocer, as stated by an official from the Badlapur police station.

The fraudster allegedly made the victim deposit the amount in different accounts. Later, when the victim checked with the Lucknow police, he found there was no case registered against him there, the official said.


Following a complaint by the victim, the Badlapur police on Saturday registered an FIR against the unidentified accused under relevant provisions, he said.

Inputs from PTI