Man posing as Army officer held

A man who had been posing as an Indian Army junior commissioned officer was arrested at Surathkal on Sunday.

A team led by Mangaluru North subdivision ACP squad, Military Intelligence unit number 4 Detachment Southern Command Liaison unit, Intelligence team led by intelligence officer Major Swathi Srivalli Dharwadkar arrested the imposter.

According to Commissioner of Police Dr P S Harsha, the arrested is Manjunath Reddy, who had duped people of lakhs of rupees.

The imposter had claimed to have served in the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment Centre in Belagavi as a civilian employee, where he had purchased the Army uniform. He had reportedly posed as a junior commissioned officer of the rank Naib Subedar / Subedar / Subedar Major and had organised public events like felicitation ceremonies for retired Army personnel and gained trust of the people. He had promised people jobs in the Army and collected money.

The Police and Intelligence suspect Reddy was a member of a recruitment racket run by fraudulent agents / imposters to make money. There may be people from the Army too, especially the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment Centre, Belagavi, itself, or any Maratha Regimental Army unit, guiding the imposter to carry out such acts.

The investigation is in progress. The police have booked cases under IPC Sections 171, 419 and 420 against Reddy. They have seized the Army uniform, a fake Army identity card, fake Army dependent card and fake Army rubber stamps from the arrested.

Further, the commissioner said that no Army selection is done by paying money to agents. The only way to join the Army is by registering online on Army website: www.joinindianArmy.gov.in