Fake income tax commissioner held for extortion

The crime branch of Delhi Police has arrested a 24-year-old man who allegedly posed as an income tax commissioner and demanded Rs 30 lakh from a businessman in return of closing a fictitious complaint against the victim. The accused, Dinesh Kumar, was arrested last Friday from the Millennium Park area in southeast Delhi.

According to additional commissioner (crime) Neeraj Thakur, the accused is a resident of Jagatpuri and had graduated from Delhi University. According to Thakur, Dinesh had worked as an informer for the income tax department and he was aware of its internal workings.

“The victim, who is in the paper manufacturing business, resides in east Delhi. He had complained that Dinesh had contacted him in the first week of August and convinced him that a complaint had been filed against him with the IT Department as well as Sales Tax Department. Dinesh impersonated as an income-tax commissioner and told the victim that he should pay an amount of Rs 30 lakh to settle the issue. The businessman then filed a complaint with the crime branch,” said Thakur.

The Special Operation Squad (SOS) of crime branch under ACP Udaiveer Rathi started investigating. After sustained efforts, the police team finally apprehended Dinesh on August 20 when he came to collect the first instalment Rs 1 lakh from the complainant.

During investigation, Dinesh stated he was also in the paper trading business. Since he had been working with the IT department earlier, he was aware of how income tax officials function. He decided to extort money from the victim, about whom he collected detailed information related to the business and his various properties. The accused then started making calls to the complainant posing as a senior income-tax commissioner.