The police on Thursday arrested K. Gopalakrishnan (31) of Kovilpatti on the charges of impersonation and cheating. The police said that Gopalakrishnan walked into the police station on Wednesday evening to collect ₹3,000, which he had asked the station to give it to him after calling over phone posing as the Superintendent of Police, Vijayawada, P. Ravikanth.
Around 20 minutes before walking into the station, he called up the Kattoor Police Station, and identified himself as Mr. Ravikanth.
He said that a relative of his, Gopalakrishnan, was in Coimbatore to attend a seminar at a leading engineering college and he had lost his purse.
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He also sought bank details of officials to transfer the amount later. When the police contacted the Vijayawada control room, they were told that no officer
by name Ravikanth was working there. The City Police Control room immediately got in touch with their Andhra Pradesh counterparts.
Later, Gopalakrishnan confessed to impersonation.
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The police said that Gopalakrishnan had called up the station from one his mobile phones, which he switched off. He then walked in to collect the money. He had stolen a walkie-talkie from a police station in Andhra Pradesh, duped a few persons in Tiruchendur, and had collected money offering jobs in shipping companies.
He had duped police stations in Madurai and collected ₹1,000 too.
The police said that he was a native of Kovilpatti but his family had migrated to Ongole in Andhra Pradesh, where his parents was running a road side eatery. He had completed Plus-Two and has a diploma in catering science.
He had served a two year prison term in Palayamkottai.
He was produced before the Judicial Magistrate-II court here.