A conman, who impersonated a policeman to threaten a former cabinet minister and jewellery shop owners in a bid to extort money, was arrested today from suburban Borivali, the police said.
A trap was laid near the Borivali railway station today on receiving information that a fake policeman would arrive at the place, when the accused, Nishant Parmar (27), was spotted moving suspiciously, the police said.
"Parmar was subsequently caught and placed under arrest," Senior Inspector of the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) Vinayak Vast of the Mumbai police crime branch said.
He was produced before a court which remanded him to police custody until July 21, he said.
According to the police, the owner of Kothari Jewellers at Sion was approached by two people on May 17. The duo told the shop owner to call up Police Inspector Nalawade of Shivaji Nagar police station in Pune.
"When the victim began speaking to Parmar over the phone, the accused introduced self as Inspector Nalawade. Parmar told the shop owner that the latter had purchased stolen jewellery from thieves and this needs to be returned to the police," Vast said.
"Parmar demanded 90 grams of gold ornaments from the victim, who was firm about not purchasing any such stolen gold valuables from any thief. However, Parmar threatened the victim to shoot him down if he did not return the valuables," Vast said.
The victim had recorded the conversation on his mobile and complained at the Sion police station, which carried out a verification. It was found that there was no police officer called Nalawade at Shivaji Nagar police station in Pune.
Accordingly, an FIR was registered by the Sion police station.
