Kolkata, Nov 8 The police have caught a youth, posing as a 'Special Branch Officer' of Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters, on charges of extorting money from villagers threatening to arrest them, police officials said on Saturday.
The youth was arrested by officers of Memari Police Station in East Burdwan district of West Bengal on Thursday.
According to the police, the man went door to door and demanded a large sum of money in the name of a conducting a search.
He had trapped the villagers by threatening them with arrest if they did not pay the money.
According to police sources, the name of the accused is Monirul Sheikh alias Moni.
He hails from Shaktipur area of Murshidabad district.
When the accused was produced before the Burdwan Chief Judicial Magistrate's court on Friday afternoon, the judge ordered judicial custody for him.
According to the police, Mani went to the house of one Kakali Hembram, a tribal woman, in Bhaita village of Palsit outpost area on Wednesday night.
He showed an identity card calling him a 'Special Branch Officer of Lalbazar'.
After hiding his real identity, the accused began a search in Kakali's house.
The accused wanted to see the bills of the poppy seeds and other items in the victim's house.
Kakali told the accused that they were bought from a local shop.
The youth then threatened to put the victim or her son in jail if she did not pay Rs 10,000 to him.
Frightened by the impending arrest, Kakali gave the youth Rs 1,000 instead.
After the youth left her house, the woman told the neighbours about the matter.
There she came to know that the youth had gone to the houses of two other persons in the village and extorted money by threatening them in the same way.
After that, the villagers started looking for the youth.
When the villagers saw the youth at the house of a local person, they caught him and detained him.
Later, the villagers informed the Memari Police Station.
The police reached the spot and arrested the youth on charges of extortion.
The police have started an investigation to find out whether anyone else was involved in the incident along with the accused.
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