CHENNAI: A 32-year-old man who ran an elaborate con for five years by claiming to be a policeman landed in the police net on Tuesday after he slapped his wife following a quarrel.
The accused, S Dinakaran of Salem was living with Nivetha, 26, at Lakshmi Nagar in Poonamallee. They have two children.
Dinakaran befriended Nivetha in 2018 by posing as a policeman, when he interfered in a quarrel with her ex-husband. They were neighbours.
He had rented a police uniform and Nivetha believed he was an actual policeman by seeing his pictures on social media, where he posed in the uniform. In 2019, she married Dinakar after divorce.
Over the years, the woman grew suspicious as Dinakaran remained at home till 10 in the morning and hardly went out for work.
“Whenever she questioned him about his job, he would leave town citing special duty and return after a week. He kept dodging her claiming that he accompanied senior police officers,” said inspector Chidambara Murugesan.
Nivetha started pestering him after people knocked on their doors in search of him, claiming that he had taken money from them. Angry for being questioned, Dinakaran slapped Nivetha on Tuesday night.
After his assault, Nivetha filed a complaint at Poonamallee police station, saying her husband was a constable and produced his identity card. She then learned that the ID card was fake and that she was conned.
Investigations revealed that he had collected money from at least 18 people promising them jobs in the police department and also used the fake ID card to pass through toll gates, to avoid paying fees.
Five years ago, he had worked as an acting driver to an additional deputy commissioner where he had taken pictures in front of the police vehicles and posted them on social media. He was booked on the charges of cheating, criminal intimidation, forgery and voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon and remanded to judicial custody.
