Fake cop nabbed from Park Street

Kolkata: He had been roaming around Park Street soaking in the pre-New Year festive mood. His Toyota Fortuner had red and blue beacons. And he professed to be a DSP of Delhi Police.
But 28-year-old Debraj Majumdar alias Sujan made a crucial mistake: there is no DSP position in Delhi Police since they are a commissionerate system having DCPs, just like Kolkata.
He was finally nabbed by Park Strret police when he got involved in an altercation on Marquee Street and was asked to provide his ID.
According to police sources, Debraj, a businessman living in Salt Lake’s EC Block, would not have been caught but for a group of car rental service personnel who got worried that their car was being “misused.”
“We got a call from near the D K International Hotel on Marquee Street saying that some people had stopped the car and an argument had broken out. We reached the spot and found Debraj, who was claiming to be a DSP with Delhi Police crime branch. He even produced an ID. We questioned him and discovered he was posing as an IPS. We are now interrogating him to ascertain how long he was posing as a cop,” said an investigating officer.
Cops believe the accused might have employed such means not only to “enjoy” the goods available at Park Street, but to gain unfairly in his business.
The accused was produced in a local court from where the cops plan to take him into police custody. He has been charged under several sections of cheating, criminal conspiracy, criminal intimidation and forgery.
The incident comes a day after the Lake police arrested another man posing as a cop and extorting fines for “committing nuisance.”
The police arrested Buddha Das of Ballygunge after he extorted Rs 12,000 as fine from Sudip Chakraborty who was relieving himself in front of Menoka Cinema. The Lake police are investigating the case.
Not long ago, another fake cop was arrested by the Jorabagan traffic guard when he was trying to travel with a red beacon.
In October, when a New Alipore trader was threatened at “gunpoint” by a “policeman” for refusing to pay up, he demanded to know his designation and subsequently lodged a complaint against him at the New Alipore police station.
Prasenjit Dutta — a hotel management passout who extorted money by posing as a cop — was arrested by New Alipore police.
Police said he targetted petty traders in New Alipore, Taratala and Behala and carried a one-shotter as well as an airgun, passing it off as a 9mm pistol. Claiming to be from the anti-rowdy section of the detective department, the Behala resident would demand Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 from traders.
With this fresh arrest in Park Street, police pointed out how the extortion scene has changed with big players now getting caught. Petty criminals target small-time traders and pose as policemen just for the “fun element”, little realizing that it is a grave offence.