Seven people were arrested for allegedly posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials and attempting a fake raid at the house of a timber businessman in northwest Delhi’s Prashant Vihar on August 11, police said on Monday.
Interrogation revealed that the gang allegedly followed a modus operandi of impersonating CBI officials, approaching selected targets, displaying purported ID cards or documents, and conducting or attempting fake raids to intimidate victims and extort money or valuables, police said. When the occupants asked for proper authorisation or a search warrant, the accused allegedly threatened and intimidated them. Through technical analysis and CCTV footage scanning, seven suspects were identified and arrested last week. The gang is believed to have carried out two-three similar fake raids in Delhi, Mumbai and Jammu and Kashmir, police added.
Deputy commissioner of police (Rohini), the complainant, Pratham Aggarwal, informed police around 10pm on August 11 that he was at his Prashant Vihar residence with his mother when a group of six men and two women arrived, identified themselves as CBI officials, showed purported ID cards, and demanded entry to conduct a raid, according to Shashank Jaiswal. Police said a case under sections 308 (extortion), 351 (criminal intimidation) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered at Prashant Vihar police station, and an investigation was initiated.
Eight mobile phones, clothing with a CBI monogram, and screenshots of purported fake identity cards were seized from the accused, officials said.
