Court acquits 'fake cop' charged for extortion

PANAJI: A judicial magistrate first class court at Panaji has acquitted Adil Shaikh, who was charged for extorting a mobile phone and 500 by impersonating a policeman in 2009.
According to the prosecution, in May 2009, the accused, impersonating a policeman, threatened Ajinkya Rajput over telephone and ordered him to keep 500 with a person at a bakery in St Cruz.Similarly, after three four days, the accused again forced Rajput to keep his mobile with a person in a hair cutting salon in St Inez, Panaji. In both the instances, the accused had called Rajput on his mobile phone from a landline.
Later, Ajinkya told his father about the incident and filed a police complaint.
In this case, the prosecution did not examine the two witnesses from the shops, who took the money and the mobile phone from Rajput and gave it to the accused. The prosecution told the court that these witnesses could not be traced. During the hearing of the case, a panch witness told the court that police had shown him the mobile, but it was not recovered from anyone.
While giving the benefit of doubt to the accused, the judicial magistrate first class, Sarika N Fal Dessai, observed thus: "The prosecution has failed to bring out the involvement of the accused in the present case. The prosecution has failed to establish that the accused personated himself and criminally intimidated the informant to extort one motorola mobile phone and cash of 500."