Rickshaw driver poses as colonel, cheats Army aspirants, arrested

PUNE, (PTI): A 55-year-old autorickshaw driver has been arrested for allegedly posing as a colonel and duping several Army job aspirants, Pune city police said on Wednesday.

Sanjay Sawant, the accused, was arrested in a joint operation of the crime branch of Pune Police and Military Intelligence (MI) and handed over to the Pathankot police in Punjab where he is facing a case of cheating, an official said here.

He had worked as a labourer at Central Ordinance Depot (COD) at Dehu Road in Pune for 30 years before becoming a rickshaw driver, the police official added.

”A case was registered in Pathankot where he is accused as posing as an Army colonel and duping, along with others, several youths to the tune of lakhs of rupees by promising them jobs in the Army,” the official said.

A team of Pathankot police had earlier visited Pune in a bid to arrest him.

Following intensive search, sleuths of the unit IV of Pune crime branch and Military Intelligence tracked Sawant down and nabbed him, the official said. (PTI)