3 arrested for extortion, posing as Crime Branch officials

Three people were arrested from northwest Delhi on charges of extortion and posing as Crime Branch officials, police said on Monday.

Deepak Kumar (33) and his wife Jyoti (33), residents of Ghaziabad, were arrested along with Poonam Sethi (43), a resident of Shahdara, from Subhash Place, they said.

Police said a case was registered on Sunday after a man reported that some people tried to extort money from him by posing as "officials of the Crime Branch".

The couple and the woman were arrested from the office of a jeweller in Pearls Omaxe Plaza Tower at Netaji Subhash Place in Pitampura, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Vijayanta Arya said.

They were trying to blackmail and extort money from the complainant by posing as "officials of the Crime Branch", the officer said, adding that the accused had demanded Rs 5 lakh from the victim by threatening that they would ruin his business and reputation.

During interrogation, Kumar said he worked in the real estate and tour and travel sectors, but had no work for the pass few months and was under debt, Arya said.

He came in contact with Sethi on a social platform and started committing crimes. Kumar told his wife Jyoti about their plans after which she too joined them, the officer said.

Sethi started blackmailing people and extorting money from them by posing as officials of the crime branch using the name"National Crime Intelligence Bureau", the DCP said.

Four mobile phones, an I-Card which had "Dost Police" printed on the front and "Press" on the back, and another I-Card saying "National Crime Intelligence Bureau" were seized, the police said.