‘Army officer’ dupes buyers by offering them discounted branded items from canteen

The complainant said that he paid ₹40,000 to Surve through an online transaction for a refrigerator, however, when he asked for the item, Surve had switched off his phone, “We initiated an investigation and found Surve’s location in Navi Mumbai following which we arrested him,” said Patil

Mumbai: A 54-year-old man was arrested for allegedly impersonating officials from the armed forces to cheat people. His modus operandi was to approach people on social media and lure them into getting branded things from the army canteen at discounted rates.

Upon conducting a search of Surve’s residence, the police found several fake ID cards through which Surve pretended to be an officer with the armed forces. “After questioning him, Surve admitted that he cheated several people by offering them branded items from the army canteen at discounted rates (HT Photo)

According to PSI Kalyan Patil, from Borivali police station the accused identified as Deepak Surve, was arrested from Navi Mumbai with several fake identity cards of Indian Army, Navy and CISF officials. Patil said that on January 31, they had received a complaint from a Borivali resident that he had been approached on Facebook by Surve. After talking to him, Surve offered the victim branded items at cheap rates from the army canteen.

The complainant said that he paid ₹40,000 to Surve through an online transaction for a refrigerator, however, when he asked for the item, Surve had switched off his phone, “We initiated an investigation and found Surve’s location in Navi Mumbai following which we arrested him,” said Patil.

Upon conducting a search of Surve’s residence, the police found several fake ID cards through which Surve pretended to be an officer with the armed forces. “After questioning him, Surve admitted that he cheated several people by offering them branded items from the army canteen at discounted rates. He has cases against him at Shahu Nagar, Bhoiwada and other police stations across the city,” said Patil.

Surve also cheated people by promising jobs in the armed forces, “There is a fake job racket case against Surve registered at Mira Road police station,” added Patil.

Surve had been arrested for impersonation and cheating and will be produced before the court on Monday.