Delhi: Impostor trying to extort money from ex-AIIMS Dean arrested

New Delhi: A 27 year old impostor was arrested by the Delhi police for acting as a cop in an attempt to extort money from a former All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Dean.

Dr Narender Mehra, Former Dean, AIIMS was swift to act and approached the Crime Branch,informing them that he had received a call from someone who had identified himself as Sub Inspector Dharam Pal Singh.

Dr Mehra’s narration revealed that the accused had said that a non bailable warrant of arrest had been issued against him, in a case related to the Reserve Bank of India(RBI). The accused also urged him to talk to the public prosecutor Prakash Kumar Agnihotri, who was handling the case. Dr Mehra said the accused also asked to deposit Rs 72,116 in an account. It was when asked for a deposit, that Mehra doubted the genuineness of the call and approached the police.

"The accused, Shahid, is a school dropout. He made the extortion plan with the help of his friend Sandeep alias Dev, who was earlier arrested for a similar offence. Shahid posed as both the police officer as well as the public prosecutor. The police have seized the phone that he used to make the calls," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch)Ravindra Yadav,

Shahid was also found operating bank accounts using fake identities. He was apparently following the course taken by Sandeep. The two used to gather information about their victims by surfing government websites and using online search engines.