Nehru Park where Jagdish operated
What does an out-of-job Delhi police constable do? Well that partly depends on why he lost his employment. In Jagdish Chander's case, he was sacked by the department some time ago on charges of extortion. The ex-cop then decided to turn his backup job into his vocation. Chander was held on Monday for allegedly extorting money from a Moti Lal Nehru College student and his friend, a civil engineering student, who were sitting together in Nehru Park in New Delhi district.
Additional CP of New Delhi district KC Dwivedi confirmed the incident and said that Chander has been arrested. An FIR of extortion has been lodged at Chanakyapuri police station.
One of the victims, Mohit Kandola, is a second-year B Com student at Moti Lal Nehru College. He said that he had come to the park with his friend Neeti (name changed on request), a budding civil engineer.
"I was sitting with my friend having a chat with her when the accused approached us in civil dress. He threatened us claiming he was a Delhi police sub-inspector and sitting in the park with a girl was illegal. The accused then threatened to book us in a false case and demanded money," said Mohit.
The accused said that that the couple would have to pay 'sitting charges' or face an FIR. Mohit took out two Rs 500 notes. Chander snatched the money from him and ran out of the park. Mohit got suspicious. According to him, the accused showed him a Delhi police ID card but not of a constable. Mohit then approached a cop in uniform and narrated the whole incident to him.
The accused was nabbed and taken to the local police station. "Two notes in denomination of Rs 500 were recovered from the possession of Chander. The money was extorted by the accused," said a senior police official.
The accused cop Jagdish has a criminal record. He was dismissed in 2006 for extorting money from a businessman and an FIR was also lodged against him at Rajouri Garden police station. He had been posted with the ACP (vigilance cell) in north district. "He had been coming to Nehru Park for a long time and used to extort money from the couple," added the senior police official.