Man held for impersonating Delhi HC judge to extort money from policemen

A man was arrested for allegedly impersonating a Delhi High Court judge and approaching police personnel in order to seek favours and extort money, officials said on Saturday.

The accused visited the Samaypur Badli police station and introduced himself as a judge of the high court to the SHO there. However, the SHO became suspicious during the conversation as there was no official intimation regarding the visit of any judge to the police station, they said.

On Friday, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Samaypur Badli received a WhatsApp message on his official mobile number which read, Hi here is Justice (name withheld), sitting judge Delhi High Court, call me urgently, according to police.

He also made a call to the ACP's number, stating that he will visit Samaypur Badli police station at 5 pm in connection with a writ petition, they said.

The ACP conveyed the message to the SHO of Samaypur Badli police station. When the SHO was in his office, a person, aged about 60 to 65 years, came there claiming himself as a justice of the Delhi High Court and said that he came to the place in connection with personal verification of a writ petition filed in related to alleged organised crime running in the area, a senior police officer said.

He also said that on Thursday, he tried to resolve the matter with head constable Pawan posted in beat, but he did not respond. He asked the SHO to pay Rs 5 lakh to set aside the writ petition, otherwise, they (policemen) might be in trouble and lose their job, the officer said.

The SHO got suspicious as there was no official communication from the high court regarding the visit of any judge to the police station. He verified the person claiming himself as a judge, the police officer said.

Later, the person was identified as Narendra Kumar Agarwal, a resident of Adarsh Nagar. On checking his mobile phone, several WhatsApp messages, where he claimed to be a judge of Delhi high court and threatened people to comply with his demands or lose their jobs, were found, Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer north) Devesh Kumar Mahla said.

Head constable Pawan also reached the police station and confirmed that one Narendra Agarwal called him, demanded money and threatened him that he will be sacked if he refused to fulfill his demand, the DCP said.

Aggarwal used to call and send messages to Delhi Police personnel posing as a judge of the Delhi high court to get his work done, police said.

Two cases of the Essential Commodities Act were also registered against him in 1980, they said.

In 2011, his wife filed a case of dowry and cruelty against him in which he had attended court several times where he came to know about the power of judges and noticed compliance of directions given to police by judges, Mahla said.

Thereafter, in the last few years, he started calling and messaging police officials by impersonating himself as a judge of the high court and sought favours and extort money, he said.

During interrogation, it was verified that he has messaged several police officials in the name of a Delhi high court judge to get favours, police said.