Fake IPS officer held in Kochi for 'duping' women banks

Kochi, Mar 13 (PTI) A 31-year-old man who allegedly posed as an IPS officer to defraud several women and financial institutions has been arrested in Kochi, police said on Thursday.


Karthik Venugopal, alias Vipin Karthik, hailing from Malappuram, was picked up from a shopping mall here by a team from Kalamassery Police Station.



The arrest was carried out under the supervision of the Kochi City Police Commissioner Putta Vimaladitya at the request of the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, they said.



According to police, Karthik befriended women by pretending to be an IPS officer, lured them with promises of marriage, and financially exploited them.



He also allegedly forged documents, obtained loans under false pretences, and created fake salary certificates to secure loans from multiple banks, police added.



The accused was wanted in a case registered at Kadugodi Police Station in Bengaluru, where he allegedly took money and vehicles from a Malayali woman after promising marriage and later attempted to back out of the wedding by falsely claiming he had cancer.



During the arrest, police recovered his mobile phone, laptop, and cash.



Investigators revealed that Karthik has been named as an accused in 13 similar cases registered against him in Kerala and Bengaluru.



After being held in Kalamassery police custody, the accused was handed over to the Bengaluru police for further investigation.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)