New Delhi, June 14
A 35-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly impersonating an additional private secretary of a Union minister, to dupe people, including some members of Parliament. His accomplice was also apprehended.

The arrested individual, identified as Sanjay Tiwari, stays alone at rented accommodation in Phase I of Mayur Vihar.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Railways), Sanjay Kumar Jain, Tiwari runs two news portals --Tiranga News and Ujala News. The accused was earlier arrested seven times in cases of cheating.

"We started the investigation after we received a complaint that an impostor had approached several MLAs of northeastern region," added Jain.

The police laid a trap near Tiwari's residence on Tuesday and he was apprehended from there.

Subsequently, his accomplice, Rattan Deep Gupta (29), who is a resident of Trilokpuri was also apprehended.

During the interrogation, Tiwari confessed that he had impersonated a Union minister's additional private secretary and contacted two MLAs in April.

"He had promised to assist them in processing and fast-tracking their requests for central monetary grants from the ministry. He had also demanded 'speed money' to help them get quicker grants," added Jain.

According to Jain, the MLAs became suspicious over Sanjay's conduct and made their own inquiries. When they contacted the real additional private secretary, they realized that an impostor was trying to dupe them.

The officer added that Tiwari was earlier arrested in 2007, when he and his associates impersonated a minister's personal secretary and staff and then approached two MPs. They had demanded money from them to help in order to release funds.

"In 2005 and 2007, Sanjay and his associates had posed as news reporters to extort money from drivers of three mini-trucks carrying LPG cylinders. They had threatened the drivers that if they did not pay up, they would implicate them in false cases of LPG theft from cylinders," added Jain.

New Delhi, June 14
Two recovery agents were arrested for allegedly making extortion calls to the relatives of a Member of Parliament (MP), after impersonating senior police officials and advocates.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Railways), Sanjay Kumar Jain, the culprits are identified as Ankit Panwar (22), a resident of Sagarpur and Lalit Gupta (19), who stays at Uttam Nagar.

They were apprehended following a complaint of the MP's relative who was being threatened on the phone to pay money.

Jain said the caller claimed that he was a police official and told the complainant that a warrant had been issued against him on a case filed by a mobile service provider.

The police used technical surveillance to trace the mobile phone number, which was used to place the call to the complainant.

"It was found that the number was obtained on forged documents. However, we managed to identify the user to a debt recovery agency in the Dabri area of southwest Delhi," said Jain.

Accordingly, the police conducted a raid there and Ankit and Lalit were apprehended. During the interrogation, Ankit disclosed that he had been running the debt recovery agency, Shinestar Solution, for the past one year.

"Lalit had been working with him for the past four months. To recover the money that was due from the customers, they threatened them by posing as senior police officials. One of them posed as an advocate and threatened them with legal action and a court warrant," added Jain.

The police seized 14 mobile phones with SIM cards from the accused. They also recovered the phone that was used to place the extortion call. 

New Delhi, June 14
The North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations in their drive against unauthorized construction demolished portions in 24 properties having unauthorised constructions in the Rohini and Central zones. The demolition was carried out by the building departments of the respective zones with the help of local police.

The demolition was done in the areas, including Prashant Vihar, Vijay Vihar, Rohini Sector-24, 2, 6 and 9, Nihal Vihar, Paschim Vihar, Pitampura. In Central zone, the action was taken in Vishwakarma Colony and Industrial Area Okhla, Phase-II.

Some under-construction properties were also targeted during the drive.

In the past one month, the building department has demolished more than 80 properties.