4 fake GST officials held for ‘extortion’

Four people have been arrested for allegedly posing as government officials and collecting money from a truck driver. The suspects are identified as Simanchal Panda 58, Sushant Kumar Dalaai 35, Debasish Pattnaik 30, and T Gopal Rao 27. The police swung into action after the driver of an east godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, Ramesh, lodged an complaint with the chhatrapur police station on December 21. He alleged that the four suspects had detained his truck loaded with rice and pan masala from Kolkata near the railway over bridge in Chhatrapur. The suspects then posed as government officials and demanded Rs 5 lakh from the truck's owner. They managed to collect Rs 140 lakh from the owner through funds transfer from a bank account. Additionally, the suspects took away 60 packets of pan masala from the truck. The police also seized two cars, five mobile phones, and Rs 140 lakh in cash from the suspects.