Fifteen people, including four policemen, have been arrested for allegedly extorting money from car drivers after threatening them with rape charges, the police said on Tuesday.
A Sub-Inspector, three constables and three private drivers of a PCR van were also held in connection with the case, they said. Two women were caught red-handed while “settling a matter” with a victim for ₹50,000 on Monday night near Sector 44 police outpost, said officers. A few days ago, the police got information about the gang, said SSP (Gautam Buddh Nagar) Vaibhav Krishna. “A woman from the gang would hitchhike a car ride on some pretext and ask the driver to stop the vehicle near Sector 44 police outpost. She would then approach the PCR van stationed nearby and complain to fake cops of rape by the driver,” he said.
Then they would threaten the driver with legalese and he would eventually offer to settle the matter in lieu of some money, Mr. Krishna said.
