A private firm clerk collected “huge” sums from Iskcon devotees in Mayapur in the name of building a temple by introducing himself as a “secretary” in the chief minister’s office and the “would-be district magistrate” of Nadia.

Police have seized a white Scorpio fitted with a blue beacon and a “Government of West Bengal” plate on Tuesday after arresting Tapas Banerjee, 45, from Bankura’s Raipur, where claimed an Iskcon temple would be built.

CID officers said Banerjee, a resident of Naihati in North 24-Parganas, had collected a “huge” amount of money since he began cheating the devotees over four years ago.

The fraud came to light following a complaint by an Iskcon devotee at Nabadwip police station, near Mayapur. Banerjee has been remanded in police custody for 10 days.

A senior police officer said: “The accused has cheated a number of persons, misleading them with his fake identity as an officer of the chief minister’s secretariat. We have charged him with cheating, impersonation, criminal breach of trust, forgery and (under) other sections.”

The police said the preliminary investigations indicated that Banerjee, who works as a clerk with a private company in Naihati, started visiting Mayapur in March 2014.

In the temple town, he posed as a “secretary in the chief minister’s office” and gradually developed proximity to foreigner devotees and some monks as well.

Tarun Gourhari Das, the Iskcon devotee who lodged the complainant, said: “He used to come in a white SUV with a blue beacon. He told us that he is a secretary in the CMO with close links to the chief minister and would soon be posted in Nadia as the district magistrate. But I became suspicious recently when I came to know he had been collecting money from many devotees in the name of Iskcon for a temple in Bankura.”

A senior officer of Nadia police said the CID was approached after it emerged that the name of the CMO was being exploited by Banerjee to cheat people.

A CID officer in Calcutta said: “The accused took money from many persons in Mayapur and other areas, assuring them of several benefits from the government. People paid him in good faith. However, it is not clear how much money he has swindled. We need to interrogate him for more details. We are trying to find out whether more people were involved with Banerjee.”

Iskcon spokesperson Subroto Das said the organisation would “extend all possible support” if the police seek assistance during the investigations.

The beacon-fitted Scorpio Tapas Banerjee used. Samir Saha