Mumbai Police have arrested two people for impersonating NCB officers and extorting money from people, according to reports. The two accused identified in the case Suraj Pardesi and Pravesh Valimbe are both residents of Mumbai. The accused arrested in the case were also involved in extorting money to the tune of Rs.20 lakhs from a 28-year-old Bhojpuri actor who later committed suicide because of the extortion.
The police told ANI, “The actor was present at the rave party with friends at a hotel in Santacruz (West), when these two fake NCB officers demanded Rs 40 lakh from her and her friends. These fake officers said that they are to be arrested for consuming drugs. Later, they realised Rs 20 lakhs from her. It also came to light that Arif Ghazi, who attended the party with the actor, was behind it. After the incident, the Bhojpuri actor got scared and committed suicide through hanging on December 23 (Thursday).”
DCP Manjunath Singe said that the fake NCB officers continued to call her and made attempts to extort money, following which the actor committed suicide to get rid of the threats. A case was registered by the police under ADR and sections 306, 170, 420, 384, 388, 389, 506, 120B, and 34 of Indian Penal Code(IPC).
The police said that the actress, who worked in Bhojpuri movies and stayed on rent at Jogeshwari (West), died by suicide at her residence on December 23 as she was being blackmailed and threatened by the accused. Following her death, her friend narrated the incident to the police. After that, the Amboli police took suo motu action and registered an FIR into the matter, when they found about the rave party raided by the fake NCB officers.
“The deceased and her friends got scared and requested them to settle the issue. The accused demanded Rs 40 lakh and finally settled at Rs 20 lakh,” a police officer said. Police also found that the actress’s friend Asir Kazi, who was also present at the party, was also part of the extortion racket.
Notably, the NCB team in Mumbai have been conducting multiple raids across Mumbai in which eight operations were carried out and six cases registered. NCB Zonal director Sameer Wankhede said, “NCB Mumbai in its continuous fight against Drug Suppliers and Peddlers in Mumbai, NCB Mumbai launched several operations at various places of Mumbai and seized a total 2.296 Kgs of Amphetamine, 3.906 Kgs of Opium and 2.525 Kgs of Zolpidem tab from 10.12.2021 to 14.12.2021 and intercepted 1 Ivorian national. The NCB Zonal Director also said, We have conducted seizures, raids at eight locations in the last two days.. We are ready for New year and keeping a close tab on the upcoming events.”
