Delhi Cop, Tax Official Among 5 Arrested For Fake Raid On Businessman: Police

Five people, including a head constable of the Delhi Police and a staffer of the Income Tax (IT) department, were arrested for allegedly conducting a fake raid at a businessman's home in west Delhi's Janakpuri area, the police said today.

The five include head constable Kuldeep Singh posted at the Crime Branch unit of the city police, Deepak Kashyap posted with the Vigilance Income tax department along with Himanshu, Ravinder and Shambhu Sharma, a senior police officer said.

Two, including a woman, are on the run and efforts are underway to arrest them, the officer said.

According to another police officer, the IT staffer had information that a businessman in Delhi's Janakpuri had around Rs 400 to Rs 500 crore at home.

Just before the raid, one of the six accused asked the others to include a woman in their plan to make the raids seem authentic, the officer said.

The accused suggested that having a woman on their side would help ward off suspicion since there are women in the house and no one would inform the police, the officer said.

The "raid" happened on Tuesday around 8:30 am. The businessman, Kuljeet Singh, lives with his wife, sons, and their families. The accused entered Mr Singh's house after he left for work, the police said.

"The accused had planned to enter when the head of the family was inside. They wanted to portray that a genuine raid was underway and ask him for around Rs 15 crore to settle the case. However, when they reached, Mr Singh, who deals with lift operations in Noida, had already left," the officer said.

"They had to conduct a fake search in the house and claimed they had a search warrant and took the phones of all members of the family. When they could not find anything, they left in their car," the officer said.

One of the family members informed Mr Singh and their neighbours about the incident and approached the police later, the police said.

The Janakpuri police station found out from the department concerned that the raid was fake. The police checked CCTV footage from the area and spoke to family members for clues about the accused, the police said.

The car, in which the accused came, was found to be owned by the head constable, the police said.

The plan was allegedly hatched by Kuldeep and Deepak, the police said, adding that Shambu suggested the name of the complainant as a potential target.

A case has been registered and further probe is underway.