Siddhartha Nagar (UP), Dec 15 (IANS): A man has been arrested for duping several traders by posing as the 'joint commissioner' in the GST department.

The accused, Hiralal Yadav, turned out to be a Class 8 dropout.

Police said that Yadav was arrested after a trader in Biskohar Bazar noticed that Yadav was unable to check the account books.

The trader asked Yadav to show his identity card and informed police who reached the shop and questioned Yadav and arrested him when he failed to prove his credentials.

SHO, Trilokpur, Surya Prakash Singh said, "A trader saw Yadav who claimed to be 'joint-commissioner' in the state GST department. Taking advantage of the recent raids by the GST department, he got a fake ID card made with forged signatures in the name of real officers after seeing their names on the Internet."

On Wednesday, he first reached a footwear shop and checked the bills. He took Rs 4,000 from the shop owner and issued him a warning. Thereafter, he visited a timber shop and took Rs 5,000 from its owner. When other shopkeepers came to know about this, some of them closed their shops while others started updating the account books.

"Yadav then reached a wholesaler supplying automobile parts and demanded to see the account books. However, the manager noticed that Yadav was unable to check the figure and had no knowledge of Tally software," the police officer said.

He immediately informed his seniors who asked him to keep Yadav engaged.

"In the meantime, the members of traders' association and others reached the automobile shop and asked Yadav to show his identity card. Yadav showed them his ID card and threatened to sue them in the court and lodge an FIR for obstructing a government servant from discharge of his duties," the officer said.

"Traders called UP 112 for verification of Yadav. We reached the spot and asked Yadav to show his ID card and later shared the details with GST officials," the SHO said.

"The GST officials told us that Yadav was a fake officer after which an FIR was lodged against him," he added.

During interrogation, Yadav told the police that he was a Class 8 dropout and worked as a driver.