Delhi: Cop arrested for honey trapping clerk, extorting Rs 15 lakh

The gang had recently extorted R15 lakh in scrapped R1,000 and R500 banknotes from a clerk posted at ESI Hospital in Rohini after trapping him with one of their women members.

A Delhi Police constable and five others, including three women, have been arrested for running an extortion racket in which they ‘honey trapped’ businessmen and government employees, police said on Tuesday.

The gang had recently extorted R15 lakh in scrapped R1,000 and R500 banknotes from a clerk posted at ESI Hospital in Rohini after trapping him with one of their women members. (Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times)

The gang had recently extorted R15 lakh in scrapped R1,000 and R500 banknotes from a clerk posted at ESI Hospital in Rohini after trapping him with one of their women members.

Posted at Burari police station, Constable Pradeep,26, was the kingpin of the racket. He got the majority of the share from the extorted money. The six used to honey trap victims and then the constable would ‘raid’ the place. They used to threaten their victims that if they won’t pay up, they will expose them.

Others arrested were identified as Tabassum,28, Nidhi Singh,27, Ankita Sharma alias Aradhana, 26, Krishna Nand Bhat, 48, and Jeet, 28. Bhat runs a weekly newsletter, “Adarsh Bharat Times”.

Rajesh Deo, deputy commissioner of police (crime), said the arrests came following investigation into an extortion case filed by the ESI hospital clerk, Pawan, who is a relative of the constable.

In his complaint, Pawan told the police that Tabassum was calling him since early November. They became friends and and then some days later, she asked him to come to her house in Burari.

Read: Less honey, more trap: Extortionists held for conning men through dating sites

“On November 17, Pawan went to Bengali Colony in Burari to meet Tabassum,” said Deo. They were in the middle of a conversation when Jeet and Nidhi, posing as a policeman and a journalist, entered the flat and began thrashing Pawan after telling him that he was caught in a raid.

They threatened Pawan that they had taped his “wrong doings” with the woman and a copy of the video will be sent to the press and his family. They demanded Rs 25 lakh to settle the matter and return the videos.

“Pawan arranged R15 lakh from his friends and relatives and paid the money to them. He was asked to pay the remaining money soon. However, he reported the matter to the police,” the DCP said.

A police team gathered intelligence about the suspects on the basis of info provided by Pawan.

“Tabassum was the first to be arrested when she was about to board a train to Shahjahanpur from New Delhi railway station. Her interrogation led to the arrest of Constable Pradeep and the other four gang members,” said an investigator.

Pradeep told the interrogators that that Pawan was his brother-in-law and he had only provided his mobile number to Tabassum. “Pradeep knew that Pawan is well off and if trapped, a handsome amount could be extorted from him,” the officer said.