Bengaluru man poses as IPS officer, cheats people of crores

A conman posed as a police officer in Bengaluru (Representative Image)

A Bengaluru man used a ‘shortcut’ to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming a cop – he got a police officer’s uniform stitched and posed as an IPS officer to cheat people of crores. The story of 34-year-old R Srinivas was reported by Times of India.

According to the report, Srinivas had developed a desire to become a police officer after watching South Indian films. Instead of becoming a cop, however, he ended up on the opposite side of the spectrum as a crook.

When Srinivas was arrested in Bengaluru on March 14, police recovered three bikes, including a BMW, worth Rs 23 lakh in total. He had bought the bikes and other luxuries using money he cheated out of people.

Srinivas’s story came to the limelight following a police complaint filed by one Venkatnarayan, whom he cheated out of Rs 1.8 crore. Srinivas posed as an IPS officer in front of Venkatnarayan and other people, using a fake uniform and a fake ID card. When asked why he did not carry a service revolver, he had a response ready. Srinivas told people that he was on probation and the revolver would be issued once he was posted in Bengaluru.

Many people, including Venkatnarayan, fell for his story.

Srinivas reportedly met Venkatnarayan through mutual friends. The conman told him that he was in the midst of a land deal worth Rs 450 crore in Mysuru and needed Rs 2.5 crore. He convinced Venkatnarayan that he would receive Rs 250 crore if he took part in the deal.

Venkatnarayan gave Rs 49 lakh to Srinivas and received the amount back in December 2022. Trusting the man, he gave him Rs 1.8 crore more. To give Srinivas this amount, Venkatnarayan borrowed Rs 1.2 crore from a hotel owner and another 56 lakh from other friends.

However, after receiving the money, Srinivas went incommunicado and stopped receiving Venkatnarayan’s calls or replying to his messages.

He was arrested on the basis of Srinivas’s complaint. During the investigation, it was revealed that he had similarly cheated many people out of their money.

At the time of his arrest, Srinivas had no cash on him. He had spent it all on partying in luxury hotels and buying bikes.