Man arrested for extorting money by posing as cop in Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 19: A 24-year-old man, who lost his job during lockdown, was arrested for allegedly extorting money from a person by posing as a policeman in southeast Delhi's Govindpuri area, officials said on Monday.

The accused has been identified as Vishal Mishra, a resident of Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior. He came to Delhi two weeks ago for an interview at an institute in Dwarka and was staying at his uncle's place in Govindpuri, they said.

On Sunday, one Rajinder Singh filed a complaint at Govindpuri police station alleging that he was sitting in Meera Bai Park and smoking when a man, who identified himself as Inspector Yogesh as a special staff officer from Crime Branch, Lajpat Nagar, approached him, a senior officer said.

The accused asked him to pay a fine of ₹ 2,000 for smoking in public, to which Singh agreed, he said.

Later, Yogesh showed him a gun, threatened to take him to the police station and charge him under the Arms Act if he did not pay ₹ 15,000, the officer said.

The victim got scared and agreed to pay him ₹ 8,000 through a digital wallet. He called his friend Akash, who transferred the money into the account of the accused, the officer said.