A duo who posed as policemen to extort money from a grocer around a fortnight ago landed in the custody of the Navghar police in Bhayandar (east) on Thursday.
Claiming to be on-duty cops from the local police station, the duo had threatened and robbed a 27-year-old grocer of Rs 18,000 on May 3. The incident occurred when the complainant was on his way to deliver goods on a two-wheeler and he was stopped by the duo near the Indralok area. Accusing him of selling banned gutka, the con-artists threatened to implicate him for the offence.
After bundling him into an auto-rickshaw, the accused snatched Rs 18,000 from the complainant and sped away. A team, under the supervision of senior police inspector Milind Desai, investigated the case and zeroed in on the accused,identified as Siddarth Johre, 39, and Abdul Ahmed Khan, 55, both residents of Badlapur.
Not ruling out their involvement in similar crimes in and around the region, the Navghar police is conducting further investigations and interrogating the duo, booked under sections 170, 171 and 384 of the Indian Penal Code for impersonation and extortion.
