Pseudo police officers extorts Rs. 18 lakhs from Hyderabad man

HYDERABAD: Two people impersonating police officers extorted a Begum Bazar merchant of Rs. 18.5 lakh in Punjagutta on Thursday. Pardeep Sharma, identified as the victim, was robbed by pseudo police officers in Hyderabad under the guise of a police check.

The incident occurred on Thursday evening when Pardeep, an employee of Chimanlal Suresh Kumar Textiles Pvt. Ltd. in Mehdipatnam, delegated to Pradeep Sharma the responsibility of depositing Rs. 20 lakhs in the Bank of Baroda's Panjagutta branch.

However, Pradeep was stopped by two fake police officers during a police check, who questioned him about the substantial amount of money he was carrying and its source. They confiscated Pradeep's Rs. 20 lakhs bag and transferred it to their vehicle, and asked him to sit in their Innova with them.

His bag was returned to him near Khairatabad, and he was released; however, he was shocked to discover that he only had Rs. 1.5 lakhs in his bag, while a staggering Rs. 18.5 lakhs was missing.

The Punjagutta police initiated an investigation into the case after receiving Pradeep's complaint. Further investigation is underway.

"Pradeep Sharma, an employee of Chimanlal Suresh Kumar Textiles Pvt. Ltd, was stopped near Khairatabad last night on his way home while carrying Rs. 20 lakh, which he was asked to deposit in the bank the next day. However, he was stopped by fake police officers who robbed him of Rs. 18.5 lakh and fled from the scene. We registered a case and are continuing our investigation. We have yet to determine who exactly robbed Pradeep Sharma, " said Punjagutta Detective Inspector S Kranthi Kumar.