Man held for posing as cop, extorting money in Greater Noida

A 42-year-old man was arrested by the Gautam Budh Nagar police on Sunday for allegedly impersonating a police officer in Greater Noida and extorting money from shopkeepers in the Alpha-1 commercial complex, police said on Monday.

The suspect, identified as Sukhwant Singh Dalal, a resident of Bulandshahr, was arrested following confidential information received by the local police, officers aware of the matter said.

“Intelligence sources reported that a man pretending to be an officer of the Gautam Budh Nagar police had been coercing shopkeepers and vendors at the Alpha-1 commercial complex to part with their money. Surprisingly, none of the victims had reported the incidents to the police, assuming the imposter was a genuine law enforcement officer,” said Vinod Mishra, the station house officer of Beta-2 police station.

Upon receiving the information, the police set up a trap and successfully arrested the suspect at the Alpha-2 roundabout on Sunday evening.

“At the time of his arrest, the suspect was wearing a counterfeit police constable uniform. Upon interrogation, he confessed to traveling from Bulandshahr to Greater Noida once or twice a week to extort money from people, exploiting their fear of the police. He had acquired the fraudulent uniform in Bulandshahr and would change into it upon arriving in Greater Noida,” the officer said adding that the suspect targeted Greater Noida specifically because he was unknown there, and people were more likely to trust his false identity.

In addition to seizing the fake police uniform, the police also recovered ₹1,200 in extorted cash and three mobile phones from the suspect.

“The suspect has been charged under sections 171 (Wearing garb or carrying a token used by a public servant with fraudulent intent) and 384 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code. He was presented before a magistrate and subsequently remanded in judicial custody,” the SHO said.