Gang Ran Fake Police Department Out of Hotel for 8 months

An Indian gang operated a fake police station from a hotel for eight months where they dressed up as officers and are believed to have extorted money from hundreds of people, an official has said.

Incidents of fraudsters pretending to be police or soldiers are common in India, where there is widespread fear of and respect for those in uniform, but setting up a bogus police station takes the scams up a level.

The gang in Bihar state set up shop barely 500 metres from the home of the actual local police chief and wore uniforms with rank badges and carried guns, the – real – police official DC Srivastava said on Thursday.

They would then charge money to local people coming into the fake station to file complaints and cases, while pocketing cash from others by promising to help them secure social housing or jobs in the police.

They also paid people from the largely rural area daily wages of about 500 rupees (about £5) to pretend to be other police officers working at the station.

But the scam fell apart when a genuine police officer spotted two members of the gang carrying guns made in local workshops instead of service-issue weapons.

At least six members of the gang including two women were arrested but the ringleader is still at large, Srivastava said. “[An] investigation is under way in the case. More information will come to light.”

“We have heard cases of fake cops or investigating officers in the country. This is the first time we have heard of a fake police station,” one real officer told local media.

Corruption in India is common, with even real members of the police and armed forces demanding money to carry out their duties.

That, coupled with widespread respect for authorities in uniform and poor administration meaning it is hard to keep track of genuine officers, means people often impersonate cops to make money.

In June, the son of a retired policeman, P Madan Kumar, reportedly had a police jeep fitted with sirens and masqueraded as an officer to fleece nearly two million rupees off unsuspecting locals in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.