Mumbai: Duo pose as policemen, extort ₹10 lakh from businessman

Police said the businessman approached the Bandra Government Railway Police (GRP), requesting to return his money and learnt that he had been cheated.

Two unidentified men allegedly impersonated policemen and extorted ₹10.3 lakh from a Kandivali businessman at Bandra Terminus on Monday.

Claiming to be police officers, the duo checked his bag, citing security purposes, took the cash and said he could collect it from the station once he proved the cash was not stolen. (PTI/Representative Image)

They checked his bag, stating security purposes, and took the cash, saying he could collect it from the station once he proved the cash was not stolen money and also threatened to arrest him, the police said.

According to the police, the businessman Vikas Gupta, 31, went to Bandra Railway Terminus at 7 pm on Monday to board a train to Gujarat, where he was going to purchase clothes for his shop.

Gupta was standing near the railway canteen when two unidentified individuals approached him in civilian clothes, claiming to be police officers, and asked him what was in his bag, stating security purposes. When the two men checked his bag and found cash, Gupta told them that he was carrying it to buy clothes for his shop in Kandivali, said a police officer.

“They demanded proof that the cash was mine and I got scared since I didn’t have any proof. They took out the cash from my bag and told me they would not return it until I could prove it’s mine. They then left with the cash,” said Gupta. The men also threatened to arrest me, he added.

Gupta approached the Bandra Government Railway Police (GRP), requesting to return his money and learnt that he had been cheated, the police said. Subsequently, the unidentified men have been booked for extortion.