Pune : In a shocking case of cyberfriendship turned crime, the Bhigwan police station in Pune district has arrested a notorious offender, Ganesh Shivaji Karande of Shripur in the Malshiras taluka of Solapur district, who allegedly befriended women via Facebook and Instagram and then pretended to be a police officer to exploit them.
According to the police, Karande created fake social-media profiles under names such as “Sangram Patil” and “Prithviraj Patil” to pose as a police inspector. He used this guise to gain the trust of women, offering help and friendship, after which he coerced them into physical relations, loans and handing over cash and jewellery.
One woman was drawn in with the promise of help in obtaining a bank loan of Rs 6 lakh for her beauty parlour. Karande took her to a lodge in Madanwadi where the loan documents were purportedly to be signed. At the lodge he allegedly forced physical intimacy and surreptitiously stole her jewellery, cash and mobile worth about Rs 73,000.
The police said that previous complaints revealed Karande had been involved in similar offences in several police jurisdictions—including Akluj, Mangalwedha, Pandharpur and Lonavala.
Acting on a complaint filed in Bhigwan, the investigative team led by Assistant Police Inspector Vinod Mahangade conducted a search and arrested Karande from within the jurisdiction of Akluj police station. He has admitted to the crime.
The police are assessing the full extent of the fraud and urge anyone who may have been contacted by Karande under a false identity to come forward.
