Panaji: Strange events unfolded at the excise commissioner’s office in Panaji on Thursday, when a man turned up at the office claiming to be a newly appointed officer. He began issuing orders to staffers at the office and sought files to begin his work. The man, who was initially thought to be an impersonator, turned out to be a victim of a fake job scam.Recently, the excise commissioner had been transferred, and when Manoj Talekar turned up at the office on Thursday stating that he was taking charge as additional commissioner of excise-I, there was no one around to question his authority.However, when he began demanding files and issuing orders, the staffers got suspicious. They quietly inquired with other officials, who confirmed that no such appointment had been made.On being questioned, Talekar produced an appointment order. Eventually, the Panaji police were informed and a team arrived, detaining Talekar.After he was taken to the Panaji police station and inquiries were made, he revealed that someone named Ajit Shankhwalkar had taken Rs 27 lakh from him and handed him the appointment letter in return.Assistant commissioner of excise Sanket Sakhardande filed a police complaint against Ajit Shankhwalkar and Panaji police registered an FIR against the accused for cheating. Police are now in the process of tracing the accused.Police said Talekar was not impersonating but came to the excise office on Thursday to “take charge”, believing the “appointment letter” handed to him as “additional commissioner of excise-I and director administration” to be a genuine order.The fake letter fraudulently showed that it was signed by commissioner of excise Ashvin Chandru, stating that Talekar would be taking over the charge from him as excise commissioner with effect from Sept 29.The wording of the letter raised suspicions among the excise office staffers as the order usually does not come from the transferred officer.
