01 October,2016 07:36 AM IST | | Suraj Ojha
The conman posted pictures of him in Army fatigues online and tried to sell off modified cars as Army vehicles
Sagar Mishra after his arrest. (Right) One of the pictures of Mishra in Army uniform that he posted online
The police have recently arrested a man who duped people by posing as a Major in the Indian Army, on the pretext of selling an Army edition XUV online. He called himself Major Sagar Mishra, posted in the 10/12 Battalion, commando brigade.
The modified XUV that Mishra said he wanted to sell
In the month of February, he duped one Javed Khan of Byculla. Mishra (26) created an account in his name on a site, with flamboyant pictures of himself in Army fatigues, and the XUV.
In the account he mentioned that he had a limited army edition XUV that cost around Rs 10-12 lakh but was selling it at Rs 5 lakh. He claimed that as he was moving to the UN on deputation, he wanted to sell it at the low price.
Army logo
The police said car enthusiast Khan, a businessman, inquired about it after seeing the description and exciting offer. One day in February, Mishra called him to Goregaon and showed him the car. He told him that it was a modified version of an XUV not available for civilians. The car had the Indian Army logo on it and that made Khan want to buy the vehicle even more. Mishra seemed to have a lot of knowledge about the defence forces, and he also showed Khan some of his pictures in army uniform.
After this meeting, Khan decided to buy the car and transferred R5 lakh to Mishra's bank account via netbanking. But once the money was transferred, Mishra switched off his phone.
Khan lodged a complaint with the Byculla police in the month of February itself. The police said Mishra fled to UP, then Delhi, and Haryana. But later the Byculla police arrested him from his residence in Mira Road. He lives with his family. He was charged under sections 170 (personating a public servant), 171 (wearing a garb or carrying a token used by public servant with fraudulent intent) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC.
After arresting Mishra, the police immediately informed the Army, and he was questioned by defence officers for 3 hours. In the wake of the Uri attack and the Uran suspects case, authorities are leaving no stone unturned if they get suspicious information.
Police says
Senior PI of Byculla police station, Avinash Shingte told mid-day, "After our interrogation, defence officers interrogated him for 3 hours. Later, it was found that he is just a conman, nothing more."
He added, "He has conned many others in different states with the same modus operandi and looted lakhs of rupees."
Mishra told the army investigators that the pictures were of his college days when for a fancy dress competition, he had worn army fatigues.
