A resident of New Town was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly impersonating a senior official from the chief minister’s office at Nabanna, and for purportedly employing the state government's logo and emblem to extort money from people.
Police said Saurav Chatterjee, 49, a resident of DLF New Town, had started contacting people, many of whom are business owners, and demanded money, promising them official favours.
“If anyone turned down his offer, he would drop names and threaten legal action against them and extort money,” said an officer of Kolkata Police.
Recently, the matter was brought to the notice of senior officers of the city police.
Based on a complaint, the cyber cell started a case against Chatterjee on Tuesday and arrested him from his residence on Wednesday night.
The investigation of the case was subsequently undertaken by the anti-rowdy squad within the detective department of the city police.
According to officers, Chatterjee had been arrested earlier in connection with another case.
“Twelve mobile phones, ₹7,25,000, 40 silver coins, 14 gold coins each weighing 10 grams, four wireless man-pack sets, cheque books of 9 banks, one gold bracelet, one gold bangle, one neck chain, one white gold bracelet and a gold pendant were seized from him,” said joint commissioner (crime), Kolkata Police, Rupesh Kumar, on Thursday.
Chatterjee has been booked under sections of cheating by impersonation, forgery, and sections of the Information Technology Act.