The Kochi police has joined in the hunt for an IAS officer’s son, who had allegedly duped several people in the city.
The accused, identified as Purushottam Pandey, son of former Karnataka IAS officer K.P. Pandy, has been in hiding since the Kerala police set a trap for him.
According to the police, Pandey made off with `20 lakh from a person near Vennala, in a property deal.
Purushottam Pandey, 38, is a history-sheeter, who has several cases registered against him by the Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad police.
The last time he fell into the police net was in 2006 when he was arrested by the Delhi police in a cheating case.
According to police records, Pandey, who completed his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bengaluru in 1991, worked in a shop and later set up his own advertising agency ‘Good Advertising’ in Bengaluru.
After his business failed, he tried his hand at government tenders, arranged admissions for students in private medical colleges and fixed transfers, the police added.
Anticipating police action Pandey fled to Mumbai in 2002 and started working with a reputed advertising agency on commission basis. In 2004, he shifted base to Lucknow.
According to the police, Pandey became close to a girl working in a beauty parlour in Lucknow and both allegedly cheated several people there and fled to Kolkata.
Later, he stayed for some time in Bengaluru and Chennai and cheated many others. It is learnt that the police has now received a crucial tip-off about Pandey’s location.