Delhi: Three arrested for impersonating Home Ministry officials, extorting money

Representative Image. Pic/iStock

Three men who posed as officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Delhi Police's Crime Branch were arrested for allegedly extorting Rs 1.8 crore from a retired commandant of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police by threatening to circulate his obscene video on social media platforms, officials said on Tuesday.

They also threatened him that a murder case will be registered against him as the girl he spoke to over WhatsApp had committed suicide, they said.

Ravindra Singh Yadav, Special Commissioner of Police (Crime), said the unit has busted a gang of cyber fraudsters and arrested accused Neeraj (22), Ajit (23) and Jarif (30) from Mathura, Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur, Rajasthan, respectively.

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Jarif, the main conspirator, pretended to be a Youtube official and had also spoken to the victim at various stages by introducing himself as a senior official of the MHA and Delhi Police, he said.

The trio used more than 20 bank accounts for transaction of money, he added.

Police said the matter came to light after the retired ITBP commandant filed a complaint with southwest Delhi police in which he alleged that he came across a woman on WhatsaApp who threatened him to circulate his obscene video on social media.

According to the complainant, he also received a phone call from a person, who introduced himself as Inspector Ram Kumar Malhotra from Crime Branch, Delhi Police and extorted money on the pretext of blocking the obscene video on social media.

Later, he was told by the gang members that the girl, who had called him, had committed suicide in Rajasthan and further told him that matter has now become complicated and murder case will be registered against him.

They extorted money on the pretext of closing the murder case pretending to be senior police officers and officials of the MHA at different intervals.

The accused had extorted a total sum of about Rs 1.80 crore and were demanding more money from him.

The senior police officer said that to crack the case, the team collected information and analyzed details of over 200 mobile phones and obtained details of more than 20 accounts of various banks. After analysis of the bank accounts details, it was revealed that the accused had extorted about Rs 1.8 crore.

"After technical analysis, it was established that they used to operate the gang from Mathura and Bharatpur from different mobile phone numbers. The team conducted raids in Mathura and Bharatpur and apprehended the three accused," he added.

Elaborating on the modus operandi, the officer said accused Neeraj has opened a bank account in his name at Mathura but the ATM card, cheque book and other bank account-related documents were not with him. He received cash from the other accused to provide his bank account for using the same for cheating and Rs 17.5 lakh were transferred in his account for the same.

Similarly, Ajit also opened a bank account in his name and the alleged account was misused in the same manner for which he received Rs. 41.5 lakh, he said.

"To make easy money, Jarif got into an online fraud. He is one of the main conspirators. He along with the other accused had extorted Rs. 1.8 crore. He pretended to be a Youtube official while talking to the victim. He purchased a Thar, a plot and agriculture land with the money received from extortion," the Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) added.

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