Two men posing as police personnel tried to extort money from a tempo driver in Mira Road late on Thursday night. However, they ran out of luck when on-duty cops from the local police station reached the spot and foiled their extortion bid.
While one of them, who has been identified as one Suresh Lalasaheb Adwal (40), was apprehended, his accomplice managed to flee the spot.
In his statement to the police, the tempo driver said that he along with the staff of a local catering firm was returning after finishing work at a marriage hall in Manvelpada, Virar, when two bikers stopped them in the Sai Baba Nagar area of Mira Road.
The duo claimed to be police personnel and started asking them to show documents of the vehicle. After being shown the papers, the duo raised objections to human transportation in the tempo and demanded fine for the illegal act.
The frightened driver told that he had only Rs 500. Just at that time, a patrolling unit comprising uniformed personnel from the Mira Road police station reached the spot.
They sought to know what was happening, following which the driver narrated the entire episode to them.
The real cops managed to apprehend the pillion rider, while his accomplice zoomed away on the bike.
The police took the impersonator to the police station and booked him under sections 170 (personating a public servant) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Prima facie investigations revealed that the arrested accused was a resident of Park Site, said police officials who believe that the duo were part of a gang indulged in similar crimes in and around the region.
Further investigations were underway.
