Man posing as cop barges into house, threatens couple and makes away with Rs 2 lakh in HSR Layout

BENGALURU: Cases of extorting money from people by posing as fake cops have increased in some prominent areas of the city. In one such case, a man barged into a house posing as a cop, threatened a couple and fled with Rs 2 lakh, in HSR Layout.

HSR Layout is one of the upscale localities of the city with luxurious houses, high-profile personalities including IAS and IPS officers, businessmen, and celebrities besides commercial establishments.

On December 20 night, a man posing as a policeman barged into the house of Sanjeev Kumar in HSR Layout and claimed there had been many complaints against the latter. Soon after that, he took out ganja packets from his pocket, kept them on the table and started demanding money from Sanjeev.

The fake cop also threatened the house owner that if he raised an alarm, he would call the media. Out of fear, Sanjeev Kumar and his wife gave the man Rs 60,000 through Google Pay. Then, the fake policeman took them to a nearby ATM in their own car and forced them to withdraw money. He took Rs 2 lakh  and got off the car midway and escaped.

Locals alleged that this is not the story of a single household and added that the number of such cases have increased in the last three months. Most of the families in HSR Layout are facing a similar situation not only during night but even during the daytime. They said they have complained to the HSR Layout police, but no action has been taken yet.

Srinivas Reddy, vice-president of the residents’ welfare association, Sector 3, HSR Layout, said, “We will raise awareness among people. Online frauds and cybercrime cases are increasing. Such an incident happened for the first time. The association is discussing with the police department about installing CCTV cameras in commercial establishments, which will help to control such acts. Henceforth, people should be more careful before opening the doors for strangers. We will discuss the issue in the welfare association.”