COLOMBO, Sept 6: Sri Lankan police authorities on Thursday said they had arrested a man who conned his way for 26 years posing as a cop, fooling his wife, neighbours and acquaintances, and even managing to have his son employed as a police constable.

Reports said the last position he had pretended to hold was that of a sub-inspector of the National Intelligence Bureau. The man, a security guard in a private company, gave every month his purported police pay to his wife, whom he met 26 years ago posing as a policemen, sources said.

He played this role for nearly half his life.