New Delhi: Gurugram Police Saturday arrested a man impersonating the Enforcement Directorate (ED) director and his personal assistant (PA) and defrauding a proprietor of Gurugram-based real estate firm SBL Realtech of Rs 25 lakh.
The accused, identified as Ravi Raj, 42, from Bihar’s Nalanda district, allegedly called SBL Realtech’s Siddharth Chauhan and sought Rs 25 lakh on behalf of a firm that had done some painting work in housing colonies built by Chauhan’s firm, Gurugram Police spokesperson said. The spokesperson further said that of the 25 lakh he extracted from Chauhan, Ravi Raj paid himself a commission of Rs 4 lakh.
Gurugram Police officers privy to the investigation said that Chauhan’s SBL Realtech owed nearly Rs 37 crore in dues to some companies that had undertaken some work for his firm. Chauhan had shrugged off the debt from these companies—including the firm whose proprietor reached out to Ravi Raj for help extracting his Rs 25 lakh from Chauhan—alleging that SBL Realtech was defunct and under insolvency proceedings.
The incident allegedly occurring on 8 November last year was brought to Gurugram Police’s notice on 21 November 2024. The police registered a case under 204 (impersonating a public servant), 318 (4) (cheating and fraud), and 319 (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
During the investigation, police officials traced Ravi Raj’s contact number and confirmed the impersonations.
In his police complaint, Chauhan alleged that the proprietor of a firm to whom he owed money “started threatening and pressurising” him for payment of Rs 25 Lakh, adding, “It is pertinent to note that the undersigned was not under any legal obligation to pay the same.”
“That thereafter the undersigned started getting threatening calls on his mobile from the Accused No. 2 on the pretext of the Accused No.2 being the Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED),” Chauhan said in the complaint, referring to Ravi Raj.
Chauhan alleged that Raj, impersonating the ED director, threatened him with “dire consequences” if he failed to pay Rs 25 lakh. Raj then introduced another individual to Chauhan, alleging that it was his assistant as ED director. This individual, whom Gurugram Police later found to be Raj himself, threatened Chauhan and demanded another sum of Rs 20 lakh, the complaint added.
“The complainant had a considerable debt, and hence, he opted to pay up Rs 25 lakh so as not to get dragged into legal proceedings as Ravi Raj threatened him,” a police officer privy to the case told ThePrint.
“However, as his first gamble of putting him under pressure paid off with a payment of Rs 25 lakh, he started putting further pressure on him by asking for more money on behalf of the other firms whose money he (Chauhan) owed.”
Investigators said that this greed of extracting more money and earning more commission from Chauhan led to Raj’s undoing as he approached Gurugram Police, who launched an investigation and arrested Raj from Nalanda.
The case comes against the backdrop of several businesspersons across the country having fallen prey to impersonators claiming to be working for the ED who carried out raids or “digital arrests” of victims. In October last year, the ED itself thwarted a search being carried out in its name against a Delhi-based realtor, while Gujarat Police, in October, arrested 13 people for carrying out raids at jewellers in Gujarat’s Gandhidham town.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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