Kolkata, October 16 – Kolkata Police arrested Saurav Chatterjee, a 49-year-old resident of DLF New Town, on Wednesday for allegedly impersonating a senior official from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and using government emblems and logos to extort money from unsuspecting citizens, particularly business owners.
According to the police, Chatterjee had been reaching out to individuals with promises of official favors in exchange for cash. When refused, he would allegedly name-drop senior officials and threaten legal consequences to coerce payments.
The case came to light after senior officers received multiple reports. A formal cybercrime complaint was registered on Tuesday, and Chatterjee was arrested the following night by a joint team from the Cyber Cell and Anti-Rowdy Squad of the Detective Department.
Joint Commissioner (Crime) Rupesh Kumar confirmed the arrest and shared details of the seizure, which include:
Rs7.25 lakh in cash
12 mobile phones
14 gold coins (10g each), 40 silver coins
Wireless communication sets
Cheque books from nine different banks
Gold and white gold jewellery including bracelets, a neck chain, and a pendant
Police also revealed that Chatterjee had a prior arrest record related to similar fraudulent activity.
He now faces charges under various IPC sections for cheating by impersonation, forgery, and provisions of the Information Technology Act.
Investigations are ongoing to determine if more people were defrauded in this impersonation and extortion scam.
