The trio claimed to be CBI officials and were carrying weapons, police said (Representational)
A 39-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly posing as a CBI official and robbing people after offering them a lift, police said on Thursday.
The accused, identified as Tinkal, alias Tedha, a resident of east Delhi's Trilokpuri, was arrested from his residence on Tuesday, they said, adding that his associates Mukesh and Girender are on the run.
The matter came to light after police received a complaint on June 30 from Ajeet Kumar Pal, who was robbed by the accused.
Mr Pal told police that he and a friend had boarded a car from Maharani Bagh bus stand for Burari. The three accused were already seated in it and after a while, they threatened Mr Pal and his friend and forced them to hand over their ATM cards, the police said.
The trio claimed to be CBI officials and were carrying weapons and wireless communication sets, they added.
The accused dropped Mr Pal and his friend near the ISBT in Kashmere Gate and withdrew Rs 1,70,000 from their accounts using the ATM cards, the police said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Kumar Gyanesh said bank transactions, cash withdrawal done by the suspects and CCTV footage were scanned to identify the accused.
In one footage, the men were seen wearing masks and withdrawing money from an ATM in Kamla Nagar area, he added.
The officer said the accused used their car for the crime. One of them would reach a bus stand, identify a target and enquire about his destination. Meanwhile, his associates would arrive in the car, and the accused would pretend to ask for a lift and offer the target to join him.
After going to a certain distance, they would falsely identify themselves as CBI or police officials and run recorded messages on wireless sets to gain the confidence of the passenger. They then would claim that a robbery had taken place and the passenger could get arrested during picket checking, he said.
On this pretext, they would ask the passenger to hand over all belongings and keep them in an envelope. They would then threaten the person and force him to give up ATM PIN numbers. After that, would they dump the victim at an isolated place and flee, the officer added.
The accused was previously involved in 10 cases, including snatching, robbery, theft and cheating, the police said. A shopping receipt of Rs 99,253 was found in his house, and clothing items brought with the money were seized.