Delhi: 5 held for impersonating cops, kidnapping chef for extortion

The accused told police they had committed two other abductions for extortion using the same modus operandi in south Delhi recently

A property dealer and his four associates impersonated police and kidnapped a 30-year-old chef of a south Delhi restaurant to extort him of money by accusing him of being a drug peddler, police said, adding that the accused let the victim go after realising he had only ₹50 and a mobile phone. The accused were arrested on Wednesday, police said on Thursday.

The victim in the latest case was identified as Joshua Hmar, who works at a restaurant in Malviya Nagar. (Representational image)

During the crime the property dealer, identified by his single name Parvesh, wore a white t-shirt that said “Delhi Police” along with the Delhi Police logo. Such t-shirts are worn by trainee police or city police sports teams, police said. Parvesh told police that he had worked as a “police informer” but could not identify the team or individuals he worked with, police said.

The accused told police they had committed two abductions for extortion using the same modus operandi in south Delhi recently but police said no complaints were filed in those cases.

The victim in the latest case was identified as Joshua Hmar, who works at a restaurant in Malviya Nagar.

“Around 1.30 am on June 16, Hmar was walking on a road in Munirka and going to meet the manager of his restaurant in Malviya Nagar. Hmar was near a medical store when a Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara car stopped. Its five occupants identified themselves as Delhi Police officers and told him they were conducting surprise raids to nab drug peddlers. They accused Hmar of being a drug dealer and pulled him inside their car on the pretext of questioning him,” said deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Amit Goel.

“They drove for 30-35 minutes on south Delhi roads and threatened Hmar with arrest on drug selling charges if he did not pay them money. Hmar told them that he was not a drug peddler but a chef working in a restaurant who only had ₹50 in cash with him. Once convinced, the accused dropped him at an isolated spot in Munirka and fled,” said a second investigator.

Hmar lodged his complaint the same day. Police registered a case of abduction for ransom, extortion, impersonating public servants, and criminal intimidation at the Kishangarh police station on June 24. Through technical investigation and human intelligence gathering, investigators first identified the car, established its ownership and arrested Parvesh, the mastermind of the crime. His interrogation led to the arrest of his four accomplices, police said.

The other four were identified as Aryaman Chaudhary, 22, Ritik Gauhar, 23, Dev Anand Yadav, 23, and Sharman Rai, 22. Parvesh and Yadav are from Rajasthan while Chaudhary and Rai are from Kangra in Himachal Pradesh. Gauhar is from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.