Three persons were arrested after an extortion racket, run by a 43-year-old woman, was busted on Monday, the police said. The woman used to impersonate a Crime Branch officer to intimidate businessmen.
The arrested were identified as Poonam Sethi, Deepak Kumar, and his wife, Jyoti. Sethi was the kingpin, said DCP (North-West) Vijayanta Arya.
“The accused were caught when they were trying to extort ₹5 lakh from a jeweller in north-west Delhi’s Pitampura on Sunday,” said Ms. Arya.
The police said that they have recovered an ID card with “Police Dost” printed on its front and “press” on its backside and another ID card with national crime intelligence bureau printed on it from the possession of the accused.
Jobless couple
“The arrested couple was jobless and were in dire need of money. Through a common contact, they got in touch with Sethi who lured them into the racket. The couple live in Ghaziabad. We are getting details of those who were targeted by the accused,” said Ms. Arya.
The police said that on Sunday, a PCR call was received from a jeweller regarding a few people who had come to his office in Pitampura and were trying to extort money by impersonating Crime Branch officers.
‘Barged into shop’
“The accused posing as police officers barged into the shop and claimed that the jeweller has forged his sales records and demanded ₹5 lakh to settle the matter or they will book him for cheating and forgery. When the jeweller asked them to show their ID cards, the trio started negotiating and offered him to settle the matter by paying ₹1 lakh,” said Ms. Arya.
The jeweller got suspicious and informed the police about it. The police reached the shop and nabbed them for further investigation. Interrogation is under way, said the officer.
