Men posing as I-T officers steal ₹20 lakh from quarry owner in Coimbatore

The imposters told the victim that the department had information about his tax evasion

Five men who posed as Income Tax sleuths took away ₹20 lakh from a quarry owner in Kinathukadavu in Coimbatore on Saturday.

The police said the imposters came to the house of K. Panchalingam, 55, around 1 p.m.They grabbed the mobile phone of Mr. Panchalingam first and introduced themselves as I-T officials. They also showed him their identity cards.

The men told Mr. Panchalingam that the I-T department had information about his tax evasion. They searched the house and collected ₹20 lakh. Then they asked Mr. Panchalingam to produce documents related to the source of the money at the office at Race Course in the city if he wanted to get the cash back, the police said.

Mr. Panchalingam noticed that there were no policemen along with them. When asked about it, the men told him that the police were not informed of the raid to avoid arrest.

The men, who wore formal dress and spoke in Tamil and English, also took the digital video recorder of surveillance cameras at the house along with them before leaving the house.

While they were about to leave the place, Mr. Panchalingam found that the vehicle used by them did not have a registration number.Suspecting foul play, he alerted the Kinathukadavu police about the incident.Checks were conducted at all check posts. However, the vehicle could not be traced.

Special teams have been tasked to nab the imposters.