Ahmedabad man posing as IAS officer held for cheating Mehsana resident of ₹21 lakh

The Mehsana City Police have arrested a man who allegedly impersonated an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and duped a youth from Visnagar of over ₹21 lakh by claiming to influence Income Tax raids. The accused, who operated under a false identity, lived in Ahmedabad’s Shastrinagar area.

The arrested man has been identified as Arpit Piyushbhai Popatlal Shah, also known as Rishabh Reddy, a resident of Mangalmurti Apartment in Shastrinagar. According to the FIR lodged at the Visnagar City police station, Shah posed as a senior IAS officer and allegedly defrauded Dinesh Patel, a resident of Kansana village in Visnagar.

As per police sources, Shah had earlier cultivated friendships with Jayantibhai Patel and Kaushik Patel, a father-son duo from Surat, and used their network to reach the victim. Over a series of phone calls, Shah told Patel that a major Income Tax raid had taken place at his friend’s premises and that assets worth ₹600 crore were under his (Shah's) control. He claimed that Patel’s friend would face serious legal consequences unless immediate action was taken.

Claiming financial distress due to the alleged raid, Shah coaxed the victim into transferring money under the pretext of handling legal matters and securing the release of funds. He reportedly extracted ₹21.65 lakh, citing the need to pay lawyers and officials. Shah even said he could no longer afford to hire a lawyer due to the freezing of his assets in the supposed IT crackdown.

In a further twist, to avoid returning the money, Shah reportedly handed over another individual’s Thar vehicle to Patel and issued cheques which were later dishonoured due to insufficient funds, with stop payment instructions issued to the bank.

A total of four individuals have been named in the FIR, while Shah has been taken into custody. The remaining accused are currently absconding, and police have launched a search operation to trace them.

Officials said the case reflects a growing trend of fraudsters exploiting public fear of government agencies like the Income Tax department. "The accused exploited the victim’s trust and used fake credentials to gain legitimacy. We are investigating how he managed to sustain this deception and whether he has conned others using a similar modus operandi," a senior Mehsana police officer said.

Further inquiries are underway to ascertain the full extent of the fraud.