Man posing as forest officer in police uniform arrested in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: A conman with a flair for disguise was arrested in Hyderabad on Sunday after posing as a forest officer while donning a police uniform and cheating job seekers out of lakhs.

Kiran Kumar Konakanchi, a resident of Yousufguda, went to great lengths to pull off the charade. He rode around the city on a motorbike marked โ€œPOLICEโ€, complete with a siren, while wearing an official-looking uniform. Claiming to be a forest beat officer, he allegedly promised government jobs to at least five unsuspecting youth, collecting over โ‚น20 lakh in the process.

The fraud unravelled only after one of the victims, growing suspicious, approached the police. As more complaints followed, the trail led to Kiran. A joint team from the West Zone Task Force and the Musheerabad police laid a trap and picked him up on Sunday.

During the arrest, police recovered โ‚น5.45 lakh in cash, two motorcycles, and a set of forged ID cards that he used to pass off as a forest official. The fake โ€œPOLICEโ€ stickers and siren were still fixed to his bike when officers seized it.

Investigators say Kiran was methodicalโ€”dressing sharp, speaking with authority, and promising quick entry into government departments. His victims, all desperate for jobs, never imagined he was bluffing. Now, officers are verifying whether more people were conned in a similar fashion.