Bhubaneswar, Dec 17: The Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Crime Branch has arrested a fraudster who used to dupe the victims by posing as a ‘Neuro Specialist Doctor’ and ‘PMO official’, an official said on Saturday.
The 37-year-old impersonator has been identified as Sayed Ishaan Bukhari, a resident of Handwara in Kupwara district of Jammu & Kashmir.
He was arrested from Neulpur area under Dharmasala police limits in Jajpur district on Friday, Jay Narayan Pankaj, IGP STF, said.
“We received some intelligence input from reliable sources about a fraudster from J&K who has been staying in Jajpur area since 2018 and also married a woman there was involved in some suspicious activities,” said Pankaj.
Pankaj said the STF immediately swung into action and carried out a raid at the residence of the accused at Neulpur on Friday.
More than 100 incriminating documents, various ID cards, ATM cards, bank documents, affidavits and legal documents were seized from the house of Bukhari who was falsely identifying himself as an army doctor or specialist of neurology.
Numerous forged documents like medical degree certificates issued by Cornell University of the US, Canadian Health Services Institute, Christian Medical college, Vellore etc., were seized during the raid.
He also reportedly worked in many top medical institutes of the country with these fake certificates.
Many people also know him as “a very senior officer in the PMO”.
He also told the victims that he has links with senior officials in the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
A case related to forgery and fraud has also been registered against Bukhari in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The STF also came to know that he has links with suspicious elements from Kerala and also with some Pakistani nationals,” added Pankaj.
The STF during the course of investigation found that Bukhari has married six to seven women impersonating as a doctor.
“It was also found that the accused has married at least 6-7 girls from various parts of India including Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha. He was also active on various websites/apps and was in romantic relationships with many girls impersonating as a doctor with international degrees,” said Pankaj.
Sources claimed he had been arrested by Jammu and Kashmir police for duping a person by identifying himself as an Army doctor working in Odisha.
He used to marry women and later dump them after extorting money from them.
He was also reportedly arrested by Maharashtra Police in 2017.
However, his involvement in terror links is yet to be established.
Odisha Police are in touch with the Jammu and Kashmir Police and other security agencies to unearth further details in the case. (IANS)