A 31-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly trying to extort money by posing as an officer from Mantralaya (state secretariat) in suburban Mulund area, the police said on Thursday.
Suresh Sampat Ingole, the accused, moved around in a car with a sticker with national emblem to suggest that he was a government official, the police said.
On Wednesday morning he visited a shop on Mulund- Goregaon road, and allegedly told its owner, Anand Rao, that it was an illegal structure and Rao should pay him to settle the matter as he worked at Mantralaya.
Rao called up other shop owners, and when they asked Ingole to produce his ID card, he could not do so, a police official said.
After realising that he was lying, he was taken to the police station and an FIR was registered against him under IPC sections 385 (extortion) and 177 (furnishing false information). Further probe was on.