Man gets three year jail for duping businessman by impersonating as CBI officer

Mumbai, Sep 23 (PTI) A court here on Tuesday sentenced a 58-year-old man to three years of simple imprisonment for cheating a businessman by posing as a CBI officer.

The accused, Ashwini Sharma, was found guilty of offence under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 170 (personating a public servant) and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

As per the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Sharma had taken Rs 25 lakh from businessman Anwar Merchant by posing as a CBI officer on the pretext of helping him in a fraud case.

He also took the victim to the CBI office in Delhi and introduced him to another person who was also impersonating a senior officer.

After the duo pretended that his matter had been resolved, Sharma refused to return the money and threatened to implicate Merchant under "terror charges".

The prosecution submitted that all its witnesses deposed that the accused projected himself as a CBI officer and thereby induced them to make payment to the accused.

The false representation was a deliberate attempt on the part of the accused to induce the complainant and the prosecution witnesses to rely on his false identity, it submitted.

It contended that there was an intention to cheat by false representation since inception and hence charges are squarely proved against the accused.

The court after going through the evidence concluded that the accused was impersonating as a CBI officer and obtaining amounts from the victims by cheating them. PTI AVI NP