THANE: Kasarwadavli police arrested a Mumbai police constable who posed as the chief of the Special Protection Group of the CBI , and allegedly duped four persons from the city of nearly Rs 88 lakh. Anantprasad Pandey (54), a Nalasopara resident, is attached to Yellow Gate police station but has not reported to work since December 2017, said a police officer.Pandey, who claimed to be the chief of the SPG , an elite group that provides security to the Prime Minister of India and his family, duped a top official of an insurance company by promising various benefits, the officer said. A senior police official said the victim stated that in December 2015, he had gone to meet his friend, when he attended to a call received by his friend, from the accused.Pandey made his victims believe he was extremely influential, with very good contacts at Mantralaya.Between March 2016 and December 2017, the accused took Rs 88 lakh periodically and returned only around Rs 3 lakh, added the officer.“He promised a liquor licence to one victim, shops in a MHADA building to another, stalls at railway stations, and jobs for others as ticket-checkers in the railways,” Nasir Kulkarni, inspector (crime), said.When the victims followed up with the accused on the promised benefits, they realised they had been duped as their follow-ups yielded no result, the official added. Following the complaint, police launched a manhunt and Pandey was nabbed from Nalasopara on Tuesday.Police said they are investigating if he cheated some others too.The accused was produced in the magistrate’s court of R T Ingle, who remanded him to police custody for seven days.

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