Conman dupes by posing as cop, held

New Delhi, June 19 (IANS) A man who pretended to be a policewoman and extorting money from women after alleging that obscene calls were made from their phones has been arrested, Delhi Police said Tuesday.

Ravi Bhupinder Nath Verma, 35, of Navi Mumbai, was arrested June 16 from Vasi Nagar in Mumbai where he had gone to target a victim. He cheated several women from Mumbai and Delhi, police said.

"He would speak in a woman's voice. Introducing himself as a senior official, he would tell the victim that several obscene calls have been made from her mobile to some women," said Deputy Commissioner of Police Chhaya Sharma.

"Adopting the same modus operandi, he made 2,500 such calls in the past six months in Delhi and cheated several women," said Sharma.

During investigation, the accused revealed that he used to come to Delhi by air to identify his targets.

Verma was arrested following a complaint Feb 26 by a woman from Vasant Kunj in south Delhi. The complainant said she was duped of Rs.25,000 and molested by him.

Sharma said he used to threaten victims by saying that a case regarding obscene calls has been registered against their guardian or family member.

He used to extort money from the victims on the pretext of dropping the case.