Delhi constable arrested for blackmail, extortion

A businessman alleged that the constable threatened to implicate him in a rape case when he went to meet a woman he had befriended on Facebook.

A Delhi Police constable has been arrested for allegedly blackmailing a Gurugram-based businessman and extorting Rs 3.5 lakh from him in outer Delhi’s Vijay Vihar.

The accused constable was dismissed from service. (AFP/Picture for representation)

Police said that the businessman approached them with a complaint on Tuesday, after which the constable was identified as Chanderhas. The accused constable was immediately arrested and dismissed from service, said Rajneesh Gupta, deputy commissioner of police (Rohini).

The businessman told police that the incident started after he was befriended by a woman on Facebook. On August 17, they decided to meet at Rithala Metro station for the first time. From the Metro station, they went shopping after which the woman requested the businessman to drop her home in Vijay Vihar, said the DCP.

“When they reached her home, the woman invited the businessman to come up to her flat on the pretext of helping her carry her belongings,” said the DCP.

At the flat, there was another woman already present.

In his complaint, the businessman told the police that he had stepped out to the balcony to speak on the phone when two men, including one in police uniform, barged inside the house. It turns out that the woman had allegedly alerted the men while the couple was on their way to Vijay Vihar.

One of the men — police constable Chandarhas — then allegedly threatened to implicate the businessman in a false rape case that would be filed by one of the women. The men demanded Rs 7 lakh from the businessman and let him off the hook after receiving half the amount.

The businessman returned home and kept quiet for some days, before a friend urged him to approach the police. On Tuesday, the businessman approached Vijay Vihar police station and narrated his ordeal after which the police registered a case.

An investigator said that initially it appeared as though someone had posed as a policeman to extort the money. But the businessman insisted that the suspect’s body language suggested that he was a real policeman.

Based on the businessman’s description, the police shortlisted all men deployed in nearby police stations after which Chanderhas was identified. Investigators said Chanderhas has confessed to the crime after which he was arrested on Wednesday and dismissed from service. His aide is yet to be nabbed.