India

4 arrested for extorting trucks at Odisha-Andhra border after posing as GST officials

Berhampur: Four people were arrested in Odisha’s Ganjam district for allegedly posing as tax officials and extorting money from Andhra Pradesh-bound trucks, police said on Tuesday.

Two cars, five mobile phones and Rs 1.40 lakh in cash were seized from them, police said.

Simanchal Panda, 58, Sushant Kumar Dalai, 35, Debasish Pattnaik, 30, and T Gopal Rao, 27, were arrested on Monday from the Chhatrapur area after a truck driver of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh lodged a police complaint.

The four accused stopped the truck, which was on the way from Kolkata to Andhra Pradesh with rice and pan masala, and extorted Rs 1.40 lakh from the owner of the vehicle via fund transfer after identifying themselves as GST officials, police said.

They took away 60 packs of pan masala before letting the truck go, the driver alleged.

This post was last modified on December 27, 2022 9:32 pm

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Press Trust of India (PTI) is India’s premier news agency, having a reach as vast as the Indian Railways. It employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.

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