A gang in the Indian state of Bihar somehow managed to run a fake police station out of a hotel for eight months before finally being caught by the actual police.

Cases of fraudsters impersonating police officers and soldiers are not uncommon in India, a country where the fear of and the respect for those in uniform are widespread, but a gang in the town of Banka, Bihar state, took the scam to a whole other level by setting up a fake police station just 500 meters from a real one. Apparently, the scammers operated their fake station out of a local hotel, where they posed as actual officers wearing realistic uniforms, badges and even firearms. They are believed to have scammed hundreds of people, having requested bribes for registering complaints, helping them secure social housing or jobs in the police, or otherwise solving their problems

“We have heard cases of fake cops or investigating officers in the country. This is the first time we have heard of a fake police station,” one police officer (a real one) told reporters.

To make their police station appear legit, the gang allegedly paid people from the rural area around Banka wages of about 500 rupees per day ($6.25) to pretend that they were working at the station. The whole thing was convincing enough that no one filed any complaints with the real police for eight months.

The gang’s bold scam was dasmantled when Shambhu Yadav, who heads up the actual police station in Banka, happened to spot two of the fake officers as they were making their way back to the fake headquarters after harassing shop-owners at a shopping mall currently under construction to report to their station to have their spaces assigned to them.

Yadav became suspicious when he noticed that the fake police officers had fake firearms believed to have been ordered at a local workshop, instead of a service-issue weapon. When asked where they were based, the two “colleagues” became evasive, so he took them both in for questioning at his police station.

The fake officers eventually led Shambhu Yadav and his team at their hotel police station, where three other accomplices were apprehended. Interestingly, all are denying any wrongdoing and claiming that they thought they were working for the actual police… A sixth gang member, believed to be the leader, is still on the loose.