Eight people, two of whom are women, have been taken into custody by Zirakpur, Chandigarh, police for posing as NIA agents and trying to extort ₹69 lakh from a local.
Veerpal Singh, a resident of Sector 39, Zirakpur, was the target of the gang’s July 17 incident, which was reported. The gang pretended to be looking into a fictitious land transaction in Delhi when they contacted him.
Following a tip-off, the police apprehended the entire eight-member gang. A subsequent investigation revealed that their criminal activity extended beyond the attempted extortion of Mr Singh. During a search, authorities recovered five fake NIA uniforms, indicating the gang’s potential involvement in multiple scams.
“It has come to light that the gang was active in the region for the past some time,” said SP (Rural) Manpreet Singh, hinting at the possibility of more unreported cases.
The investigation further uncovered that the gang had previously extorted ₹1.35 lakh from a Delhi resident, Mahesh Gupta, by conducting a fake raid on his residence.
Rajkumar from Uttam Nagar in Delhi, Jyoti and Neelam from New Delhi, Balwinder Singh from Maloya, Radhey Shyam from Ropar, Nitesh Kumar and Subhash Chander from Jhajjar, and Sushil Kumar from Bahadurgarh are among the people who have been detained. As these eight remain under police custody, three other suspects connected to the gang’s activities are being sought after.
This incident underscores the rising issue of individuals who pose as members of the police force with the sole purpose of swindling innocent locals. It should serve as a warning to always have doubts about a person who says he or she is an official and to ascertain the truth of his arguments beforehand giving out your money or any other belongings in one case.
Here are some safety tips to avoid falling prey to such scams:
- Request identity cards at all times, and check their legitimacy with the appropriate organization.
- Never give strangers access to your money or personal information.
- If you’re not sure, get in touch with the authorities immediately to find out if the accusations are genuine.
- Inform the police right once if you witness any suspicious conduct.
Residents may guard against being the target of such extortion attempts by being alert and taking some preventative measures.
