Gang posing as ED team raids residence, cheats K’taka businessman of Rs 30 lakh
Mangaluru: In a scene straight out of a movie, a gang of cheats posing as Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials conducted a ‘raid’ at the house of a businessman and duped him of Rs 30 lakh in cash.
The incident came to light on Saturday from the Narsha region in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka.
According to police, the gang conducted the ‘raid’ late on Friday night at the house of Sulaiman Haji, a successful beedi businessman.
He has filed a complaint in this regard with the Vitla police.
Police stated that Sulaiman Haji was very wealthy as he had dominated the beedi business in the area for a long time. After gathering information about him, the gang decided to rob him, police said.
The criminals arrived at the residence of Haji in a Tamil Nadu registration vehicle and announced that they were officers of the ED and had permission to conduct search and seizure operations.
The gang searched every inch of the bungalow for nearly two hours and found Rs 30 lakh in cash at different places.
The gang also found gold ornaments but returned the jewellery and other valuables to Haji after making note of them.
The gang claimed that they would have to seize the cash as per procedures and told Haji to collect it after the investigation was over, by providing an explanation.
However, Haji became suspicious and after making an enquiry he came to know that he had been defrauded and immediately approached the jurisdictional Vitla police station and lodged a complaint.
The police are gathering CCTV footage and have launched a hunt for the gang.
The ED in August took action against a man allegedly posing as an IRS officer working in the agency and running an IAS and IPS coaching centre in New Delhi.