Mithun KS, 28, the male impersonating an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, arrested for cheating a medical store owner of ₹41 lakh, an alarming scam involving two fronts. With a twist of modern high tech scams employing fake pseudonyms, the fraud victim checked authorities about the charges only when he could see from the stand.
It’s believed the suspect, Mithun KS who lives in Chikkamagaluru, got hold of Satish GR, a 55 year old “Shreyas” medical store owner in a local post office in the village near the outlet. The police claimed that Mithun’s strategy was sophisticated in this case, to gain the victim’s trust by pretending to be an IAS officer at Arogya Soudha, the state health department headquarters. The scam started around three months ago when Mithun was introduced to Satish through a doctor, Dr. Chandrashekar, from nearby who visited the clinic next door to the store weekly.
Mithun also followed the doctor on several occasions, and was portrayed as a top government official with office responsibilities in the district. In this introduction, Mithun has convinced Satish that through it he will get a government contract for National Health Mission. It also allowed the owner of a medical store to ship drugs at health facilities at a volume he estimated was in excess of ₹1.8 crore. Mithun said he was a probationary IAS officer, and asked for 20 percent an advance commission to make his deal look like it was a legitimate deal. Dedicated as he was to his claims, Satish reportedly gave away ₹36 lakh worth of cash on January 18 outside Jakkur Aerodrome in Bengaluru. All in the presence of the doctor, so he has more credibility than that to his own scheme, apparently.
He did not give an official order after payment even after filling in the paper-word report. Mithun ultimately requested another ₹5 lakh, which Satish deposited in his account. Nothing changed, and the accused never tried to come out and make good. Satish became skeptical and turned to third party verification of Mithun’s credentials. He reached out to health department personnel and Arogya Soudha, but was disheartened when he learned Mithun was not an IAS officer and was not an official in government.
Satish then called the police and made a complaint after falling foul, realizing he'd been duped. On 11 April, Amruthahally Police Station opened a case on relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) cheating, impersonation. Mithun was later arrested, which is only getting started, and an investigation is ongoing. Mithun also disclosed a pattern of impersonation with senior officials, including IAS, IPS officers who presented themselves as victims.
He purportedly did make connections and gained credibility posing in photos with bureaucrats and politicians. It should serve as a wake-up call for everyone to watch for people who pose as people of power. The Government encourages consumers to pay extra attention before making a credit card purchase, and, especially, to check up what credentials the person with any of those government contracts on them has.
The authorities also want to know whether other victims and potential perpetrators were swept up in such an activity. The incident reminds us that being aware of and doing everything in your power to stamp out those super high-value frauds that we’d really love to see repeated.
