Ghaziabad: Three men have been arrested for allegedly extorting money from an Indirapuram businessman by posing as senior govt officials. The accused allegedly threatened to arrest the businessman and shut down his firm unless he paid Rs 15 crore to settle an alleged CBI notice.On Tuesday, the businessman, Vikas Mittal, filed a complaint at Indirapuram police station alleging that five men had falsely identified themselves as senior-ranking CBI and NIA officers. They told him they could ‘settle’ a case that the agencies had filed against his firm and demanded money from him. Mittal told cops he had already paid Rs 50 lakh to the accused.Based on CCTV footage and inputs from informers, a joint operation was conducted by SWAT, the surveillance team of the trans-Hindon zone and a team from Indirapuram police station. They arrested three men — Ankit Dwivedi (36), a resident of Vasant Kunj; Anil Pratap Singh (64), a resident of Greater Noida West; and Siddharth Jain (34), a resident of Pitampura — on Wednesday. They recovered Rs 1.9 lakh and seized three mobile phones and a diary from them. Efforts are underway to arrest the two others, police said.Deputy commissioner of police (city and trans-Hindon) Dhawal Jaiswal said the men allegedly told police during interrogation that the firm’s manager, Yogesh, had allegedly discussed with one of the accomplices, Salman, that the company he worked at had allegedly been served with a notice. He claimed he had contacts with senior officials in various govt departments and offered to get the matter ‘settled’.Police said Salman then introduced Yogesh to another accused, Siddharth Jain. Jain finally introduced Yogesh to Anil Pratap Singh. Singh posed as a senior-ranking officer and told the manager that he could get the notice resolved. He also convinced Yogesh that his employer, Vikas Mittal, could face arrest if the matter was not settled immediately.The accused allegedly demanded Rs 15 crore for the purported settlement. Police said Singh subsequently contacted firm owner Vikas Mittal and repeatedly threatened him with action and imprisonment in connection with the notice, allegedly collecting money from him.According to the police, Singh later sent his son Aniket alias Kabir, along with Ankit Dwivedi, to collect money from Mittal. The accused allegedly intimidated the complainant and jointly carried out the extortion.Aniket alias Kabir and Salman, both named as accused in the case, are currently absconding. Police have formed teams to trace and arrest them. Further investigation is underway, including verification of the arrested suspects’ criminal records.
