Man poses as cop to extort money from drivers, held

GURUGRAM: The police on Saturday arrested a Delhi-based shop owner for allegedly posing as a police inspector and extorting money from truck drivers.

His aide, a woman, who was posing as a deputy superintended of police (DSP), managed to escape in a car, the police said, adding that the man was caught near the Rampura Chowk on National Highway-48.

According to the police, suspect Abhishek Malik does not have a criminal record and told the police during questioning that he was impersonating a police officer for “easy money”.

According to the police, the incident took place around 3.30am when a truck driver from Ranika village in Nuh, identified as Deen Dar, was on his way to the city but was stopped by the suspect near Rampura Chowk.

“The man told the truck driver that he was a police inspector and the woman sitting in the car was a deputy superintended of police,” a police officer privy to the investigation said while requesting anonymity. “He told the truck driver to produce documents of the vehicle and that his truck would be seized since he was smuggling goods. He asked the driver to pay them a bribe. The truck driver resisted and told him that he only had about ₹200, the suspect tried to snatch it from him,” the police officer added.

According to the police, the suspect then held the truck driver by his collar and threatened to lock him up. Seeing the commotion, a police control room van from Manesar, which was on patrol, approached the truck driver.

“The truck driver complained to the police officials from Manesar, who then questioned the suspected man. The man tried to boast of his credentials but later confessed that he was impersonating a policeman. Meanwhile, the woman sitting in the car managed to escape,” the police officer said.

A case was registered against the two suspects under sections 170 (personating a public servant), 384 (extortion), 379 (theft), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The police said the Delhi man was arrested by a team of the Kherki Daula police and produced in court, which sent him to police custody for a day.

ACCUSED ABHISHEK MALIK DOES NOT HAVE A CRIMINAL RECORD AND TOLD THE POLICE THAT HE WAS POSING AS A COP SINCE HIS BUSINESS WAS NOT DOING WELL