The legitimate police have stated that an Indian gang established a phony police station for eight months in order to extract money from residents.
The fictitious organization consisted of six individuals in fake uniforms operating out of a hotel in the town of Banka, in the north-eastern Indian state of Bihar, barely 500 yards from the actual police station.
The ‘officers’ informed people they could assist with a variety of concerns, including filing criminal reports, applying for social housing, and securing police employment, in exchange for between £1 and £10.
In reality, the documentation was just dropped at their ‘headquarters,’ and the gang pocketed the money.
In addition, they paid residents from the predominantly rural region around $5 per day to pose as police officers at the station.
The group wasn’t apprehended until earlier this week, when a genuine officer noticed that one of the phony police officers was carrying a non-standard issue weapon.
The head of the Banka police station, Shambhu Yadav, stated that he stopped Anita Devi Murmu, 25, and Aakash Kumar Manjhi, 27, on their way back to the hotel from the construction site of a shopping complex.
Yadav stated that the two had harassed shopkeepers at the government-funded site by encouraging them to report to the local police station in order to be allotted properties.
When Yadav questioned the two about their whereabouts in the city, he claims they became evasive, so he detained them for additional questioning.
They then revealed that they were operating out of a nearby “station.”
The police detained Ramesh Kumar, Wakil Kumar, and Julie Kumari Manjhi during a hotel raid.
A sixth suspect, alleged gang boss Bola Yadav – who is unrelated to the real police chief – remains at large.
The detained members of the group have denied any wrongdoing, claiming they believed they held legitimate police positions.
However, authorities who searched their’station’ discovered 40 electoral cards that had been used to apply for development plans and 500 applications for social housing that had not been mailed as required.
“There have been reports of phony police officers and investigative officers throughout the nation. This is the first time we have ever heard of a fictitious police station, a genuine officer informed local media.
In India, corruption is widespread, with even police officers and soldiers requiring payment to do their responsibilities.
This, together with the widespread respect for officials in uniform and the fact that it is difficult to keep track of actual officers due to bad management, explains why people frequently imitate police officers for financial gain.
In June, P Madan Kumar, the son of a retired police officer, reportedly had a police car modified with sirens and posed as an officer to steal about two million rupees from residents in Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India.