The city police arrested four people who allegedly extorted around Rs 2 lakh from a trader, posing Income Tax officers who wanted to search his premises, a police official said here today.
Addressing a news conference here Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-I) Sachin Patil said that the accused went to the business premises of trader Mangaldas Bhanushali of Navi Mumbai on August 18, at around 11.30 am and stated that they were from the Income Tax department.
They snatched away his mobile phone and Rs 4,700 in cash from his person after which they took him to his residence, where they took away gold ornaments, the police official said.
The trader lodged a complaint at the Shil Daighar police station, the police official said.
Later, senior police inspector K D Katkar and men nabbed the four fake Income Tax officers near the Thane Civil Hospital within hours of the crime, the police official said.
The police seized the entire booty of Rs 2.72 lakh from the arrested who were identified as Bupendra Koshti (35), Milesh Satam (37), Prafulla Bhingardive (37) and Santosh Bhosale (37), the police official said.
They have been charged under Section 170, Section 363, Section 420, read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, the police official said.
