The imposter, who was arrested by the Malkangiri district police of Odisha on Friday, has been identified as Santosh Kumar Mohanty alias Pintu, a resident of Khurda district. He has been booked on charges of cheating and extorting money from traders.

Malkangiri sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Sachin Patel said that a complainant named Anil Kumar, a chemist owner, had reported on August 9 that he had received a WhatsApp call from Santosh asking him for money. The caller threatened him with dire consequences if the demand was not met.

According to SDPO Patel, similar complaints were also reported at other police stations in Malkangiri district. In one case, a victim had paid over Rs 1 lakh in installments, while another person paid around Rs 3,000.

During the investigation it was established that the suspect accessed store phone numbers through Google and called the victims using Street View and other tools.

“The suspect used second-hand phones and obtained SIM cards from senior citizens. After installing WhatsApp and making ransom calls, he sold the phones,” Patel added.

Earlier, several others were also arrested in Malkangiri, Kouraput and Rayagada districts for posing as Maoist leaders to extort money from traders and rich people.