Fake food safety officer held in Pollachi

Coimbatore: Man impersonating as food safety officer and extracting money from hotels was arrested by Pollachi police on Saturday. According to police, S Murugesan from Chandrapuram had visited a hotel in Pollachi and introduced himself as an official from the food safety department. After carrying out an inspection, Murugesan claimed that the kitchen had been in an unhygienic manner and asked hotel manager A Sheik Mohammed to pay a penalty. When Sheik Mohammed refused, Murugesan broke into a quarrel and abused the staff. As his behavior raised suspicion, the hotel manager informed the food safety officials. Pollachi East Police arrested him for impersonation. Inquiries revealed that Murugesan was working as an assistant in the office of the Animal Husbandry Department and had extracted money from more than 100 hotels, bakeries and eateries in Coimbatore, Pollachi, Malumichampatti and Kinathukadavu areas by pretending to be an official from the food safety department.