Fake CBI gang busted in east Delhi; 3 held, Rs 1.25 crore recovered

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) Three people, including a woman and the director of an NGO, have been arrested for allegedly posing as CBI officers and robbing a businessman of more than Rs 2.5 crore in Delhi's Vivek Vihar area, police said on Friday.

Police raided the NGO's office in Saidulajab, near the Saket metro station, and caught two accused, identified as Papori Baruah (30), the secretary of the NGO named Crime Bureau of Investigation and a resident of Assam, and Deepak (32) from Tughlakabad. Later, the NGO's director, Ram Singh Meena (62), was also arrested, officials said.

According to police, a complaint was received on August 20 from Manpreet Singh, a resident of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, who alleged that four people, including a woman, took cash from his rented office in Vivek Vihar by posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said.

The complainant, who runs a finance and property business, told police he had kept Rs 2.5 crore in cash in his office. On August 19, he asked his associate, Ravi Shankar, to collect Rs 1.1 crore from the office and bring it to his house.

"When Ravi came out of the office with the cash, four people stopped him, claimed that they were from the CBI and displayed walkie-talkies and fake ID cards. They snatched the bag, entered the office, threatened Singh's employee and took the remaining cash," the officer said.

The accused then forced the two men into their car, drove them to different locations and dropped them off after threatening them, police said.

A case was registered and a team from the Vivek Vihar police station analysed footage collected from more than 100 CCTV cameras and mounted technical surveillance. Two cars used in the crime were traced to Faridabad and their drivers revealed that the vehicles were hired by an NGO named "Crime Bureau of Investigation", the DCP said.

Cash amounting to Rs 1.25 crore, including Rs 1.08 crore from Baruah and Rs 17.5 lakh from Deepak, was recovered, police said, adding that more people, including four women, were involved in the crime.

"The gang had planned the heist by impersonating CBI officers to intimidate the victims. Further raids are underway to recover the remaining cash and arrest the absconding accused," the DCP added.

A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and a probe is on, police added. PTI SSJ RC